


The Archangel, The Witch and The Warehouse

by Marionhood



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, Supernatural
Genre: AU, Alternate Timeline, F/M, M/M, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-12-15 18:04:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 41,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11811366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marionhood/pseuds/Marionhood
Summary: Every story has a  moment that could change everything. One moment where it could all go wrong. Sometimes it does. Sometimes it takes a highly unwilling Archangel and a madwoman in a warehouse to set things right again.





	1. Chapter 1

**Beginnings**

"Gabriel." He sighed. "They call me Gabriel." He hated summoners. Usually, the Cult of Loki is okay and after he spread the word a few years ago, they always provide snacks. But this  _isn't_  the Cult of Loki and there  _is_  Holy Fire surrounding him, which is making him more than a little...wary.

Also, he's a millennia old Archangel...not a three-year old whose has missed his bedtime.

"The Messenger of God?" The woman confirmed quietly.

He nodded and she noted something down on her clipboard.

"You wanna tell me how you managed to trap me?" He added, a slight edge to his tone. He hadn't even been doing anything.

Well...

Nothing unusual anyway.

She shrugged, settling into her armchair and resting the clipboard on her knees.

"A simple manipulation of the dimensional wavelengths to attract certain free radicals." She said, as though that was supposed to mean something.

He stared at her blankly and she gave an irritated wave, rolling deep brown eyes.

"I made an Archangel magnet." She simplified. The accent was English, clear and crisp in a way he didn't hear very often.

"Huh. Thanks for the chair by the way." He added, perching on the back of his own squashy armchair. He eyed the Holy Fire warily, conscious that he couldn't escape and equally conscious that there was nothing stopping her from entering the circle.

"There's no reason we can't be civilised about this." She argued, before launching into her pitch. It was usually a pitch. People always wanted  _something_  from Gabriel. "Now, I am the Watcher, which is a grossly irrelevant title, but also the only name I'm going to give you. I am also an archivist. I ensure, or at least I try to ensure, that things happen the way they're supposed to happen. Normally people run along their tracks perfectly fine and their fates are achieved, worlds saved, children born...all that rubbish. Fate and history and  _time lines_ all run themselves perfectly. Atropos doesn't have much to worry about. Unless you have free radicals." She drew in a rather large breath after that.

Gabriel did his best to look unimpressed as she continued. It was something he'd practised over time. Kept Raphael in his place.

"Now these people, and they are always people, don't have a predetermined fate. They can change the world." She snapped her fingers and a file dropped into her lap, as though summoned. "Your universe is of particular interest to me..." She sighed heavily. "Would you stop looking at my soul, please?"

Gabriel jerked, refocusing his gaze on the visible spectrum.

"Why are you so sparkly?" He demanded.

She gave an indignant sniff.

"As I was saying..."

"Yeah, yeah. Dimensions...stuff...Basically, you think I'm one of these free radicals." He smirked. "Babe, I think you're nuts. All this crap is much more Team Free Will's shitck. Not mine."

She flipped through her folder, frowning.

"You're talking about Sam and Dean Winchester and the Angel of Thursday, correct?"

He nodded.

"Dean Winchester is still in hell at the moment?" She asked, dragging her finger down one page of what appeared to be handwritten algebraic equations.

"Baby Cas is on schedule to free his ass next week. He'll be too late to save the seal of course." Gabriel slouched into the chair properly, sulking.

The Watcher chewed on her lip, pulling her quill from behind her ear and scratching a note down onto the file.

"That's all very well but none of them are free radicals." She tucked a stray curl behind her ear. "They have their destiny and they will, without any meddling, reach it." The Watcher leaned back, eyeing him carefully. "The Winchesters will save the world. So will Castiel, it'll just take him a bit of time. Their path doesn't change, Gabriel. No ones does either if you co-operate."

"Are you threatening me?" Gabriel asked, amused and slightly unnerved.

She glared at him.

"Hardly. I will, however, give you two options. Burn or live?"

"Me?" Gabriel spluttered, eyes fixed upon the Holy Fire. That would definitely hurt.

"The earth. Your personal fate is up to you." She didn't seem to care what happened to him and Gabriel bristled at that. "At one point you are going to be presented with a choice and that choice will decide the fate of the world."

"I am not getting in between my brothers!" He protested. "And I tried to stop it! Tried to stop that giant sized moron from falling in with demons. It's not my fault!"

The Watcher just looked at him, before banishing the folder with a flick of her fingers and getting to her feet.

"Seven billion." She told him and Gabriel blinked.

"What?"

"Seven billion. That is the approximate human population of your universe at your point in the time line. That's how many of your Father's creations will  _die_  if you don't pull your bloody finger out and come to the right decision!" She snarled at him and Gabriel watched in awe as her soul darkened with her emotions, sparking with something he didn't understand. "Now, I've had a very long day," The circle of Holy Fire around him dropped with a wave of her hand, leaving him in a basic runic entrapment. The wooden door behind him swung open and Gabriel felt some unknown force pushing at him, encouraging him to leave. "You've got almost a year, Gabriel. I hope you make your peace with the world before Lucifer comes for you because believe me, he will be coming." She forced him backwards, a length of wood poking from one loose sleeve. "Do me a favour, Archangel. You've only got one life. Do something good with it."

* * *

Gabriel flew as fast as he could from that haunted warehouse, stretching his wings to their full capacity until he soared across the earth, scorching the ground as he passed. He'd pay for that later, he knew, but for now, he just wanted away.

When he eventually stopped, his feet found themselves on a barren, rocky hilltop surrounded by burgeoning storm clouds. Irritated, his wings shook themselves out, feathers fluffing and re-folding so they lay closer to his back. Being trapped wasn't an experience he enjoyed and the very real fear that she'd intended to keep him there had almost choked him. The fact that she'd been human had only added salt to the wound.

Well, …mostly human.

Gabriel sat among the raindrops as he thought, using just enough grace to ensure he didn't get wet. Bedraggled wasn't a look he did well.

The power was undeniable. Behind her deep brown eyes, raw energy had sparked her blood, filling the air around her and her hair with her...magic? Gabriel didn't have a better word for it, but her soul, what little he'd glimpsed of it, remained intact.

What was she?

Humanoid, certainly, and a fairly pretty one at that, aged at somewhere between thirty and fifty. She was obviously intelligent, clever enough to engage him at least and with enough sarcasm to delight even Balthazar. Her soul was bright with kindness and compassion, although tinted with heartbreaking loss and betrayal. It had almost hurt to look at.

It was another two days before Gabriel moved again and his thoughts had not wandered once. This woman, this "Watcher" was a mystery, one he fully intended to solve.

He'd needed a new hobby.

* * *

The warehouse was as it had been when Gabriel had fled…no. Not fled. Left.

Irritatingly conspicuous. Dark Victorian brick walls and windows covered with black sugar paper gave it an abandoned air, yet there wasn't one speck of decay to be sensed inside the building. People walked straight past it, none of them glancing twice at the single oak door which was set into the side. Two stylised M's were carved into the wood and he realised that she worked for somebody, had compatriots or even co-workers. He didn't bother with the door -knocking wasn't his style-just flashed himself inside.

This….wasn't right.

Vast swaths of grey concrete met his eyes, a blank space that showed no sign of the woman who was supposed to reside here.

Confused he walked the perimeter of the building, checking for changes she wouldn't have been able to hide in only two days. The hole in the floor where he'd lost his temper before realising escape wasn't possible, the runic circle…none of it remained and there was no sign that it ever had. The only footprints in the dust were his and Gabriel returned to the pavement outside, feeling slightly foolish.

What was the difference between his last visit and this one?

The door.

He'd gone through the door.

Slowly he examined the slab of wood, tracing his fingers over the grain and feeling, ever so faintly, the vestigial remainder of power beyond his knowledge. His fingers closed over the door knob and, slowly, he opened the door. It swung easily on its hinges and brought with it the scent of vanilla, dusty papers and tea leaves.

"I thought you'd be back." A voice called.

Gabriel stared at her, mere meters away, a large mug held firmly between slender fingers, undeniably  _not_  a hallucination. The warehouse was back to how it had been, filing cabinets and doors covering the concrete, large, functional lamps lighting the space from high above. The Watcher herself was dressed in an oversized maroon jumper, which covered her jeans and her bare feet tapped against the floor.

"That's why I left the door unlocked." The Watcher added, before turning away and heading off between the rows of cabinets. "Close it, would you? There's a draft."

Gabriel, very carefully, closed the door behind him but didn't hear it lock. He spread his wings defensively and cautiously followed her.

"What is this place?" He asked.

The Watcher led him to a clearing, which contained a large mahogany desk and several armchairs, two of which he recognised from his last visit. She must have set them out especially.

Kidnapping.

Whatever.

"It's an archive." She told him honestly.

"Of what?" He asked, suspiciously.

"Of everything." She sat down at the desk, setting her mug down on a coaster before waving him towards a seat. "I hope you've decided to be somewhat less defensive today?" She queried.

Gabriel ignored that.

"What are you?"

"That's rude." She chided, moving some of the papers on her desk into a pile. "Going around demanding to know what a person is or isn't. You don't see me asking if you identify as a Norse deity or an Angel, do you?"

"How the fuck do you know that?" Gabriel snapped, angry.

"It's in your file." She told him, as though that answered everything. She pulled a sheet of paper towards her and began making notes in the margins with a pencil.

Gabriel felt himself getting frustrated. He was an instant gratification kind of guy. And this was just infuriating! His wings spread behind him, meters of golden feathers shifting into a position that any bird would read as a threat.

The Watcher looked up from her desk, raised an eyebrow in scorn and went back to her paperwork.

Gabriel's inner fledgeling pouted.

"HEY!" He snapped, slamming his hands down on the desk. The Watcher leapt backwards, upright in mere seconds, that slim piece of wood trained on his heart. She wasn't afraid though, merely angry and immeasurably exhausted. But Gabriel was too angry himself to really care what her soul was telling him.

"Listen, sister, you don't get to try and control my life. Tell me what I want to know or...!"

Gabriel went flying backwards through the air, the subtle corona of magic which seemed to emanate from the Watcher, now alive and deadly, snapping out in tendrils which plucked at his grace like thorns. He smacked into the wall just above his doorway and felt one extended wing fracture under the impact. He dropped limply to the floor when the pressure dropped.

The Watcher appeared with a small pop in front of him, stick held loosely by her side.

"You can come back when you've learned some manners." She chided as though Gabriel was a fucking  _child_. She shoved him through the doorway and slammed it shut behind him leaving the Archangel in a heap on the pavement.

He jumped as Angel Radio blared into life inside his head, billions of angels repeating the same phrase over and over again.

_Dean Winchester is saved!_

"Let's get this show on the road then." he murmured.

* * *

Gabriel didn't go back.

This woman, whoever she was, was powerful and all-knowing and there was very little Gabriel hated more than not knowing how a story ended. He could time-travel for a reason.

So he kept his distance and she didn't summon him again.

He did stalk the perimeter of her warehouse though.

There was only one door and it never opened. Unless she's had massive food stores in there, there had to be another way out that Gabriel wasn't sensing.

Those doors lining the walls have to lead somewhere, but if they did, it probably wasn't in this dimension.

Actually, he's fairly certain the entire warehouse isn't in this  _universe_ , which brings up questions about her power that he really doesn't want to know the answer to.

Eventually, he gives up, mostly but not entirely because he has bigger issues.

The story is going exactly as its supposed to. The demons tempted Sam Winchester into freeing Lucifer from the Cage, Heaven has its vicious claws in Dean Winchester and Gabriel's youngest brother has been led so far astray from the path that he probably couldn't even see it anymore.

It was a mess.

And Gabriel just wanted it to  _stop._

* * *

Admittedly trapping the Winchesters in TV Land wasn't his most original idea but he was getting desperate. It was only a matter of time before Michael or Lucifer worked out he wasn't as dead as he was pretending to be and then he'd be in for a whole world of trouble. Lucifer would probably be proud he left Heaven, Micheal would be  _disappointed_  which was horrible to sit through and they would both expect him to be on  _their_  side.

But if these bozos would just get the show on the road, he could get on with his life.

No problem.

Although his baby brother being following them around like a damn puppy was a pain in his ass.

"Why do you care anyway?" He demanded of the prone Seraph. Castiel was chained to a park railing in a generic mid-west town, the bustle of sit-com traffic blurring behind them.

"Because the world doesn't have to end." Castiel coughed up blood and Gabriel's wings itched. He'd practically raised the fledgelings, it went against his nature to allow one of them to be hurt.

This was necessary though, he reminded himself and tried not to care.

"Yeah, it does." Gabriel snorted. "You don't get it. Winning against  _them_? It's not possible. You're too young to remember, Cassie. Together they were unstoppable. Worlds fell to them! And now..." He trailed off, reeling at the memory of the immeasurable force which was his big brothers. Castiel glared up at him, both eyes bruised due to a broken nose. It wasn't healing because Gabriel wasn't going to give Castiel enough grace to do it with.

"We can't just give in." He snapped.

Gabriel smirked.

"Oh yeah, Team Free Will, right?" Castiel's brow crinkled in confusion and Gabriel realised they hadn't quite reached that moment yet.

Time lines, right?

"Castiel, you're an angel." he scolded fondly. "You don't have free will."

The Seraph struggled further upright.

"But..."

"No. Stop. You're not supposed to be an individual, Castiel. None of you were." Gabriel flung his hands up, pacing in front of his prone brother. The Seraph's irritation and fear were so strong that his grace was practically humming with it. Fear and...was that worry?

Angels didn't _worry_. Not about themselves anyway. Which meant...

"Urgh." Gabriel snapped, disgusted. "Let me guess? Dean, right? That's who you're doing this for."

Castiel flushed, shifting uncomfortably against the railings.

"I don't know what you mean." He stated and Gabriel rolled his eyes. He probably didn't.

Stupid, emotionally-stunted angel.

* * *

The Winchesters refused to listen. They wouldn't play their roles and Castiel was stuck on his "Let's find Dad" plan which was just insane. If Dad didn't want to be found, he wouldn't be and Cas would be better off learning that now rather than ending up disappointed like the rest of his children. Leave the fledgeling with some faith, at least.

What was worse was that the Winchesters had figured out his true identity.

They knew he was an Archangel.

And if Bozos One and Two knew it would be long until the entire host did.

So Gabriel was going to the only option he had left and  _no_  it wasn't one he liked.

The warehouse door seemed to be taunting him, but Gabriel flexed his wings and tightened his grip on his peace offerings. Michael's way of doing things (brute force) hadn't worked, so he was going with Lucifer's brand of persuasion, which in this case included a rather large pile of gifts. (He hadn't had a lot of major influences growing up, ok?)

More flies with honey than vinegar...or Watchers in this case.

The door opened easily and swung clear into the main room and Gabriel stepped cautiously...no, not cautiously...stealthily into the warehouse, closing the door behind him.

He couldn't see the Watcher anywhere, which either meant she wasn't expecting him this time, or she was waiting to attack him from a dark corner. Either way, Gabriel advanced past the summoning circle and into the rows of filing cabinets. He paused by one, reading the faded label.

_Shift Records:1992-1999_

That told him very little and he resisted the urge to go rifling through it. He was here to tempt, not to annoy.

He reached the desk space soon enough and found the Watcher sitting in her chair, a forgotten mug of tea only half resting on its coaster. Her hair fell in a cascade of frizzy curls, hiding her face from view as she scratched away at a piece of paper, pausing occasionally to refill her quill from the inkwell. She didn't look like the all-powerful being who'd thrown him out on his ass. She looked...tired.

Worn and shockingly human.

Gabriel cleared his throat and the woman shrieked, leapt a clear foot into the air and banged her knees off the underside of her desk. Wild eyes swung up to find him and that damn stick was pointing at his heart again. He tried not to take it personally.

"Hey?" Gabriel offered as the woman panted, catching her breath.

"Gabriel?" She murmured, lowering the stick. She seemed confused by his presence. "What are you doing here?" One hand pushed her hair away from her face and she staggered as she got up, knees buckling before she caught herself on her desk. "Oh, blimey." She added in a mutter, before shaking her head to clear it and trying again. This time she made it all the way to Gabriel and she frowned at him.

"What day is it? I wasn't expecting you until after the TV Land incident."

"How do you..." Gabriel bit back his demands and grinned easily. Falsely. "That was yesterday, sweet-cheeks."

"What?" The woman shrieked, rocking back on her heels. She spun around to peer a calendar pinned to the side of a cabinet. She flicked up a page and Gabriel could clearly see his name written next to yesterday's date. "I lost an entire month." The Watcher whispered, sounding extremely annoyed. " _Again_!" She added in a hiss. Gabriel tried to peer at the other names scrawled neatly in the boxes, but she flicked it closed before he could get more than a couple of words.

She stalked over to the nearest sofa and collapsed onto it, nose crinkling.

"That's rather irritating." She said, apparently to herself.

Gabriel set his armload of gifts down on the desk, and the noise of crinkling paper caught her attention.

"Oh, right." She mumbled. "You're here." Her eyes caught on the gifts and they narrowed. "What are those?"

"Bribes." He told her cheerfully, tossing her one present. She caught it and shook it gently, before neatly undoing the wrapping paper.

"Chocolate." She murmured, frowning. Carefully, she lifted one from the box and bit into it and Gabriel waited, wings almost humming behind him with his impatience. "They're good." She pronounced at last and then whiskey coloured eyes were on him again, only this time they're a lot more focused. "What do you want to know?"

Gabriel froze to think about that. This was probably quite unnerving to people who weren't a member of the host because when angels go still, they go  _still_.

"Where is this place?" He asked at least and she nodded as though that was the right question.

"This is Warehouse 37, built in London mid-way through Queen Victoria's reign. Shortly after completion it was bought by the Ministry of Magic and gifted to the Department of Mysteries in the hope that they would keep their more dangerous experiments out of the main offices." She gave a slight smile. "It didn't. Anyway, at the time they were experimenting with time travel and dimension shifting. Now, dimensions they'd gotten basically down to pat. It was how they managed to fit a department with over a hundred extremely large rooms into an office space which had originally been only 20 square feet." She glanced up at him to see if he was still following and Gabriel blinked at her. "Still, they were intrigued by the idea that there were other universes out there and that they might be able to contact them, or better yet, link those universes to theirs. So they created a point which was outside of the home dimension. A pocket universe existing, to borrow a phrase from someone else, outside of time and space."

Gabriel connected the dots.

"Which is here?"

"Exactly. The doors are portals to the other Universes. That's where the magic is."

Well, that...answered his question. It also brought up several more confusing ones. The Watcher seemed to be expecting this because she waved him on when he opened his mouth.

"There's a friggin' huge difference between linking with universes and meddling with them." He told her and she nodded.

"You remember I said they were experimenting with time?" He nodded. "They developed the ability to calculate pivotal turning points in a time line and the radicals which affected their outcome. And of course, being ego-inflated idiots, they immediately decided that as they had developed this..." She grimaced and waved a hand through the air, encompassing the concrete floor, worn furniture and filing cabinets. "Awe inspiring warehouse, they should use it to meddle as they saw fit. This entire operation is designed to connect specifically to universes where there is a significant risk of the time line being derailed and having a result which would be to the detriment of the world. My job is to stop this from happening."

Gabriel went still again as he thought this over.

None of this was impossible, in fact, he himself could do things that were incredibly similar, just perhaps not on a scale this large.

And it explained why he couldn't fly directly here. He had to pass through the doorway. Which also made sense.

He was vaguely aware of the Watcher getting up and heading over to her desk to investigate the rest of her presents.

"So something is going to happen in this time line..." He concluded and she glanced up at him. "And I'm the only one who can stop it?"

"That's about right, yes." She told him brightly before biting into another chocolate.

"Have I already done it?" He asked roughly.

Something in her expression softened and she sighed.

"If you had you wouldn't be here." She told him. "It'll be soon though."

There was silence for a long while as Gabriel digested that.

"What are you?" He asked abruptly.

The Watcher gave him an irritated glare.

"Still rude!" She admonished and Gabriel rolled his eyes.

"Tell me!" He grinned at her winningly. "Please."

The Watcher rolled her eyes.

"Believe me, you are not the most irritating person I've ever met." She warned, setting aside the bag of tea Gabriel had bought after sticking her nose in it and sniffing.

Gabriel sucked in a breath in mock outrage.

"Hey! That's not possible!"

She ignored his pouting.

"You won't like the answer." She promised. "Now why don't we get on to why you're really here." She returned to the sofa and patted the space next to her. "Sit down and talk."

Gabriel sat but didn't open his mouth. He resisted the urge to gnaw on the arch of one of his wings, a habit he'd thought Michael's disapproval had cured him of millennia ago.

"My little brother's in love." He said instead.

There was a quiet laugh from next to him.

"Yes." The Watcher agreed, amused. "He is. Not that he knows what it is yet."

Gabriel hummed and then swallowed his pride, which took quite a bit of swallowing and quite a bit of time.

"Do they make it?" He asked quietly, turning to face her. "Cas and...?"

She smiled gently.

"Eventually." She promised. "But that all depends on one thing."

He groaned.

"Me?"

"You."

Gabriel twisted his face in disgust.

"Urgh. What is it I'm supposed to do anyway?"

The Watcher grimaced.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you. You've got to work it out alone. The time line will remain set until you do." She patted his shoulder. "Now, I've got another shift in twenty minutes and you can't be here for that. Off you pop."

The Watcher escorted him to the door. She appeared to be tapping out the individual seconds against her leg.

"Good luck, Gabriel." She murmured before shutting the door behind him.

* * *

He'd had enough of this.

Gabriel was not a patient being. Not in any sense. He double checked his angel wards, stretched his wings, all three sets, as far as they'd go and  _stepped_ forward.

Gabriel wavered on his feet, waiting for his grace to compensate for the drain that time travelling always cost him. Travelling forward was always harder than back.

Slowly, he expanded his senses, drawing the scent of soot and rot deep into his lungs. His grace told him there were...no angels. He couldn't hear the host. Angel radio was silent.

He opened his eyes and then shut them again in horror.

Devastation surrounded him, the shattered remains of buildings towering over him, streets strewn with rubble, everything covered in a layer of soot and dirt.

This wasn't right. This wasn't what she had promised him.

Gabriel took to the skies, soaring over what had once been his Father's greatest creation.

The humans were in ruin. Most of America had been devastated, the population either scattered or infected with the Croatoan Virus. South America had fallen completely. Europe was in turmoil, locked into a war which was all too human in origin, but spoke of demonic meddling. Asia's vast overcrowding had taken its toll and Croatoan spread like wildfire. The fence line bisected half the continent in an attempt to keep the infected out. Africa and Australia weren't much better.

He went to the warehouse, only to find it had been fire bombed into rubble, leaving only the doorway still standing. The door itself was locked and immovable. No help was coming from the Watcher.

He looked for his brother, Heaven's littlest angel and found him, a broken mess who spent more time high on human narcotics than focused on the problem at hand. He was sequestered away in a tiny cabin, still pining from a distance for a human who was dead inside.

Finally, he went looking for himself, determined to know how he'd let things get so bad.

The only trace of the third Archangel, of the Messenger, of Gabriel...lay in the imprint of three sets of ash stained wings and a dust covered angel blade driven point first into the earth.

"Crap." He whispered.

* * *

_What do you know that they don't?_

Gabriel glowered at the slip of parchment stuck to the door of the warehouse. It started to smoulder around the edges which made him sigh and he yanked the paper down, crumpling it in his fist.

"That's really unhelpful!" He snapped, before spreading his wings and leaving.

What did he know that they didn't?

Lots of things.

He'd been around for millennia. He'd seen all of human existence, he'd seen the Birth of the Earth and the Fall of Lucifer. He'd seen Michael seal the Cage around his screaming brother and distribute the keys...

Oh.

Well, there was  _that_.

* * *

The old gods were gathering.

Which was really a ridiculous thing to call themselves as A) they were younger than Gabriel and B) Some of them were still worshipped.

Also, of all the places they could choose, they picked a motel in mid-America?

Which was just...Tacky.

No, really. The floors were sticking to his shoes.

Loki did not get an invitation, something the Norse Trickster took a lot of offence to. So honestly, they should have expected him to gatecrash.

What  _he_  wasn't expecting was Dumb and Dumber (aka, Sam and Dean Winchester) to be trapped at the same motel. His brother wasn't with them, which was probably a blessing more than anything else. Cas was just dumb enough to get himself killed.

The old gods caught the Winchesters, or ensnared them, he wasn't sure which one was more appropriate, and had them at knife point when Loki made his dramatic entrance.

Because, seriously, how else would he do it?

The surprise on everyone's faces was worth the danger he was putting himself in.

And no, he wasn't a paranoid bastard. There was just something about being stabbed in the chest by his ex-girlfriend which  _really_  pissed him off. Dammit, Kali.

The door was open this time and she was waiting for him under the lintel.

"This is it, right?" Gabriel snapped and The Watcher nodded. He could feel the Winchester's presence in the back of his mind, tugging at him. "What do I have to do?"

She laughed sadly.

"You've already made your choice." She told him and Gabriel felt the blood drain from his face. "You know what you've got to do."

"I could leave." He cried, grace flaring in panic and fear.

"You know what happens if you do." The Watcher sighed. "I'm so sorry, Gabriel. Really, I am. But this is it." Her eyes were brown and sincere but at the same time completely apathetic.

"How the fuck can you just..." Gabriel clenched his jaw, hands shaking under the strain of his emotions. And wasn't that just the problem. Emotions. "I hate you." He hissed, quietly...angrily.

The Watcher stepped back into her warehouse.

"I know." She whispered.

The door closed behind her and this time, Gabriel doubted it would ever reopen.

* * *

Time had not been kind to Lucifer. His wings were burnt and broken, feathers missing in large bloody patches. His grace which had once outshone even Michael's, was tainted and made Gabriel feel sick to look at it, to say nothing of the blood which covered his vessel. He landed just before Lucifer could rip the heart out of Kali, shoving the older Archangel back across the room.

"Lucy," He called, taunting his brother, Angel Blade hanging loosely from his hand. "I'm home."

For a moment they just stared at each other, as surprise and wonder spread across Lucifer's face. Apparently, no one had seen fit to tell him that Gabriel wasn't dead.

Not that that news would matter soon.

His brother greeted him with open arms, a manic smile on his face, for all that his wings spread menacingly behind him.

"Don't!" Gabriel warned him, stepping backwards. "Guys!" He hauled Kali to her feet, shoving the Hindu goddess towards the Winchesters. "Get her out of here!" He ordered, trying not to take offence to the surprise in their eyes. 

Sheesh, think the worst of a guy why don't you?

"Over a girl?" Lucifer pouted, looking disappointed. "Gabriel, really?"

Gabriel cast a casual glance at Kali who was being dragged out the door by Sam.

"Her?" He scoffed. "Yeah, no. Not over her."

His brother beamed.

"Good! I'd hate for you to catch something."

The Winchester's were gone now and something in Gabriel loosened, as disbelief poured in. This was his brother. Lucy wouldn't hurt him.

_Don't worry, Gabriel. It'll be okay_!

"Don't  _do_ that!" Gabriel snapped, slamming up shields which he'd long since forgotten to maintain. He wasn't in the habit of being around the other Archangels and their particular brand of communication.

Lucifer pouted at him.

"I'm just trying to remind you of how close we..."

"Close?" Gabriel yelled, incredulous. "We weren't close. I followed you around like a puppy until you got yourself kicked out."

Lucifer looked hurt.

"Now, Gabriel." He warned. "You were always my favourite broth..."

"I flashed forward, Lucy!" He shouted, wings snapping behind him.

Lucifer glared at him resentfully. He'd always hated being cut off.

"And you know what I found?" Gabriel lifted his wings defensively. "My own freakin' corpse. And you know who killed me?"

"Gabriel, please." For someone covered in blood and holding a large blade, Lucifer managed to look incredibly innocent. "You know I'd never..."

"Because I don't!" Gabriel snapped. "I could get killed by either of my big brothers just because I chose the other and neither of you would give a damn!" His older brother shrugged. It had happened before, on the rare occasion Gabriel had chosen Michael over Lucifer. Even before the Fall, Gabriel had been constantly played off between his brothers. "So I'm not choosing your side, or Michael's. I'm choosing theirs!"

"The humans?" Lucifer snapped looking both confused and disgusted. Gabriel tightened his grip on his blade. He had to give the Winchesters enough time to get away. Angel proofing didn't work if Lucifer found them just down the highway and they had to read the instructions he'd left for them in the Impala.

"Yeah, Lucy. The humans. Dad's little project." Gabriel felt fear creeping up his spine, grace whirling nervously. He couldn't win this fight, he knew that before it even started.

The Morning Star sighed.

"Don't make me do this, brother." Gabriel thought he sounded genuinely apologetic.

"How about you don't destroy the Earth and I'll back down?" He snapped back, fear making him angry. This was his  _brother_ , Lucifer...

_I taught you how to fly_. Lucifer said wordlessly and Gabriel faltered.

"Lucifer..." He begged, before his eyes caught on the bright blue eyes of Castiel's vessel, visible for a fraction of a second in the mirror as his baby brother flickered into the room, before vanishing as Gabriel's grace repelled him, pushing him away. The wonder boys must've sent him back to see what was happening. Lucifer probably hadn't even noticed his presence. "You're my big brother..." Castiel would be okay, they all would, she'd promised him. "And I love you. But I can't let you do this."

Gabriel snapped his wings open fully, reappeared behind his brother and brought his angel blade down, aiming straight for his brother's heart.

Only Lucifer wasn't there anymore. The older angel twisted away from the blade, making Gabriel stumble forward. His brother caught his shoulder and flipped him in mid-air, slamming Gabriel's back down onto the worn motel carpet. Lucifer crouched down by his side, trapping two wings under his feet as he reached for Gabriel's angel blade, pulling it easily from his grip.

"I can't let you go around with this." He murmured, holding the blade carefully in his hand. His wings thrashed as Gabriel fought to get away, but Lucifer simply put more weight on his wing, holding his brother prone on the floor. "It could kill me, you know."

"This doesn't need to happen!" Gabriel pleaded. "Brother..."

Lucifer sighed heavily.

"You really should have listened to me," He told him, tossing the blade in hand so the point hovered just above Gabriel's heart. The younger Archangel felt very real fear in his heart, terror so potent it clogged his throat, locking his jaw together. Angels didn't go to heaven. Angels didn't go  _anywhere_  when they died.

They just...stopped.

"I shouldn't be surprised." Lucifer smiled faintly, still beautiful even in his madness. "You  _did_  get your rebelliousness from me."

An idea hit Gabriel, a terrible, horrible idea that would maybe only kill him slower, but he didn't have time. It wouldn't work...

Lucifer drew his arm back, before sinking Gabriel's Angel Blade into his chest and twisting it straight into his heart.

And Gabriel shattered and burned.

* * *

An angel crashed, lifeless, in front of the warehouse, wings singed and mangled, its vessel still.

The door swung open with a bang and a figure lunged out into the sunlight, dragging the prone remains of an Archangel into the cool dark, before slamming the door and locking it with a thunk.

* * *

 

_**Imported from my fanfiction.net account.** _

_**Let me know what you think.** _


	2. Chapter 2

**Waking**

"How do you feel?"

"Ughhhhh"

Thin arms wrapped around his shoulders, hauling him back slightly so he was leaning against a stack of what felt like pillows.

"Better?" The voice asked critically.

"Gangghhh."

"Hmm." It was quiet for a few moments before Gabriel's nose twitched. He sneezed explosively, his eyes jolting open with the shock as a loud banging sounded from nearby. The vial being held under his nose didn't move, just continued to give off a faint peppery scent.

"Drink it. It'll help." The voice promised. 

For once Gabriel did as he was told, downing the vial in one gulp and wincing when his throat muscles protested. The bed dipped as someone sat on the edge and Gabriel turned to see the Watcher, looking pale as always but rather more concerned than normal.

"Good evening," She bid quietly, taking the vial away and setting it down on a nearby filing cabinet which seemed to double as a bedside table.

As a warm, tingling feeling spread to his vessel's limbs, the memory came back, slowly, like treacle off a spoon.

"I don't..." He started, voice hoarse. "Lucifer!"

He surged upright in panic and that banging started up again as he automatically called for his angel blade, only to panic further when it didn't appear in his hands.

"Easy!" Slim hands landed on his shoulders and the Watcher pushed him back towards the pillows with surprising strength. "Easy. You're fine. He cannot get you here, I promise."

"I can't." Gabriel pleaded, confused. "My grace..."

"You're exhausted." She placated. "Look..." Grabbing his chin she turned his head to the side. "Still an angel."

She was mostly right.

Those  _were_  his wings, enormous, golden and splayed across several dented cabinets. They twitched absently, which meant he wasn't strong enough to lift them properly.

They were also, horrifyingly, corporeal.

Which meant he was so exhausted he lacked the grace to hide them.

Well, that sucked.

"Where...?" He asked bewildered.

The Watcher sighed.

"Do you remember what happened?" She asked gently.

Lucifer had stabbed him and...

No.

That was wrong.

Lucifer had tried to kill him and Gabriel, in a desperate, terrified bid to survive, had torn himself to pieces, leaving enough of himself behind to fool his big brother into thinking he'd been successful.

He had lost his grace...his wings.

The Archangel lot out a low moan of pain and let himself be pulled forward into an embrace, sobbing out his pain and betrayal onto the Watcher's shoulder.

* * *

He must have fallen asleep at some point because the next time he opened his eyes he was back in the bed, covers pulled over him.

The Watcher was curled in a nearby armchair, an empty teacup balanced precariously on the armrest.

Everything hurt.

This wasn't really a surprise as he  _had_  effectively rendered himself human. The spaces left from everything he'd been forced to leave behind, gaped emptily, the remainder of his grace swirling to try and fill the holes.

He watched the Watcher as she slept. Her hair was loose around her shoulders, softening her features and that magic which normally curled around her like a wild rose was slumped in exhausted tendrils. He didn't know he'd gotten to the warehouse. He could only remember searching for somewhere, anywhere, safe.

Which he had apparently found. Sanctuary in the strangest place. 

"I thought you were going to die." The hoarse voice jerked him out of the reverie he'd been in and he refocused on the Watcher.

"You and me both." He coughed.

" _Aguamenti."_   She murmured and the teacup refilled with clear water. She passed it to him and, by some small miracle, Gabriel didn't spill it down his front.  
This was humiliating. Archangel's weren't supposed to get  _thirsty_.

"How long..."

She cut him off with a grimace.

"A week. I wasn't sure if you were ever going to wake. This was beyond my power." The Watcher rubbed at her temples. "Although you seemed to get better after the wings appeared."

That's because he hadn't been wasting precious grace keeping them hidden.

"Did I get it right?" He asked, shuffling slightly further up the bed and ignoring the dragging feeling of moving his wings. That was really going ache. "Did I do what you wanted?"

She sighed.

"Or did me not dying ruin everything?" He added bitterly.

"Without you, the Winchester's would have fallen to the Archangels. Castiel would've been killed for daring to defy his brothers. But now," She shifted in her chair. "Now, they know about the keys to Lucifer's Cage. Now they have a chance. And for people like that, a chance is all they need. They can stop it." She took a deep breath in through her nose and shrugged. "They've got a long road ahead of them but...They'll get there in the end. The path is set. The next shift intervention isn't for almost three generations."

Gabriel frowned.

"Wait, if I just had to tell them about the keys..."

"It wasn't about the keys." She interrupted. "I didn't know which path you were going to choose. In some, you joined Lucifer or Michael and the world ended. In others, you joined the Winchesters and it didn't. Either the world ended or it didn't, depending upon which outcome  _you_  chose."

"Then why did you think I was going to die?" Gabriel demanded, angrily.

She gave him an unimpressed stare, which told him not to be petulant.

Gabriel summoned the energy to stick his tongue out at her.

"Because your path went dark." She told him eventually, after a long sigh. "After you made your choice...I couldn't calculate you anymore. Usually, that means the radical is dead."

"Calculate?"

"I run equations." She explained. "I'm not a Seer, Gabriel, I'm a mathematician. I work out which variables will work out for the best, identify the free radical in each situation. Work out which actions I need to take to ensure the best outcome occurs. The Warehouse does the rest."

His head ached, but he asked anyway.

"And what does it mean that mine went dark?"

The Watched leaned back in her armchair, one hand absent-mindedly combing through her hair. She winced when her fingers got caught and began tease at the tangle. "There are two options." She told him mildly. "Either you are going to die very soon and not do anything significant to the time line between now and then,  _or_  your time line has become blurred."

"You really don't give a shit if I die, do you?" Gabriel asked amazed. She was reminding him eerily of Raphael.

The Watcher shrugged.

"It happens." She murmured and waited.

It took five minutes but eventually Gabriel got bored of staring at the shiny lights in her aura and asked the question.

"Blurred?"

There was another heavy sigh.

"I cannot see the future." She started. "Not a Seer, remember?"

"Duh."

That earned him an eye roll.

"But...I can predict certain aspects with a fairly good success rate. That relies upon a knowledge of the variables involved and the probabilities of certain actions. However predicting probabilities becomes impossible when you put yourself into the mix."

"Because you knowing how things end effects how you act." Gabriel realised. That was the same reason he didn't know his own personal fate.

She nodded.

"Exactly. I cannot calculate my own time line. Believe me if I could, I wouldn't be here of all places." She looked bitter for a second before passing out of it. "So when someone else's time line become mixed with my own, I lose the objectivity to predict the outcome." She seemed to be somewhat annoyed about that. "Usually people die. I don't know why you didn't."

"Sorry to disappoint." He muttered rudely.

She shrugged and got to her feet.

"Nothing you can do about it. Don't get up. You need to rest and recover. The shock of splitting your grace is going to take time to get over." She paused, frowning. "You can retrieve it, correct?"

Tiredly Gabriel nodded. He could feel sleep creeping up on him again.

"Good. You may be useful after all."

* * *

He awoke to voices echoing across the warehouse. His strength was back, or at least enough that he could finally lift his aching wings and fold them. His jacket and shoes were missing, but the Watcher had evidently repaired his clothes because the bloodstain and the...you know... _hole_  was gone. He didn't think he could actually stand up properly without falling over so he perched on the end of the bed, concentrating on the voices. His wings made him unsteady, heavy and awkward against his back.

"I don't think you've ever actually called in an order early, ma'am." A cultured voice was saying, accompanied by the rustling of plastic bags.

The Watcher hummed.

"Extenuating circumstances. I've got a guest. How's your girlfriend?"

"Lisa's great." Was this guy  _Welsh_? Gabriel scowled and noticed the hovering, semi-transparent circle a foot away from his nose. It seemed to be encircling the bed. "We went out for dinner two nights ago. She was still sleeping when I got your call."

"Thank you for getting here so quickly, I know it's your day off."

The man laughed happily.

"What's a weekend without having to do an emergency run to Tesco's? That'll be fifty quid by the way."

Gabriel poked at the golden circle with his finger. There was a muffled curse for the distance.

"Here's the money. I'm afraid my guest has woken up. I'll see you at the usual time, yes?"

The voices faded and then Gabriel heard a door opening and closing.

" _Colloportus_." The Watcher ordered and the door he couldn't see locked with a squelch. Gabriel poked at the circle again. "Gabriel, stop poking the ward!" She yelled, sounding closer. "You're aggravating it."

She appeared from between two cabinets and glared at him, one hand resting on her hip.

"Yes, I get it. He's awake." She pulled that stick from her sleeve and banished the circle with a wave. "How're you doing?" She asked in the next breath. "I've got food," The Watcher added and Gabriel looked up hopefully. The powers attached to being a Norse deity normal fed off his grace, but now there wasn't enough left to fly let alone keep that bundle of joy under control, which meant it was gorging itself on whatever it could find.

Namely Gabriel's fat reserves.

Urgh, he could feel himself getting hungry already.

"Does it have sugar in it?" He asked slowly.

The Watcher looked amused.

"Yes, but you're not eating in my bed." She stepped closer and hauled him upright, where he swayed. "Arm around my shoulder, please."

Gabriel scowled.

"I don't need to be helped!" He snapped.

The Watcher took a clear step away, before jabbing his chest with one finger.

Gabriel toppled.

"Is your pride going to continue to get in the way?" The Watcher asked coolly, staring down at him. Gabriel struggled upright, using the bed to haul himself up. This was just dumb. He didn't need some human...He swayed on the spot and the room blurred slightly.

Okay, maybe he did.

"Please." He bit out and the Watcher nodded, ducking under one of his arms and supporting his weight, taking care to avoid the wings.

Slowly they staggered across the warehouse until they came to what he'd decided to call her "office", where the Watcher dumped him onto the sofa. Plastic shopping bags were set to one side of the clearing and she rummaged through them, absent-mindedly setting items aside in no ascertainable order.

"I have ice-cream...Jacob's Crackers...Cheddar...Tinned fruit..." She looked over at him. "What sounds good?"

"Ice-cream?" Gabriel tried, doubting his luck. After the first...several hundred years of eating, things began to lose their taste. Sugar, however, remained as addictive as it had always been and everyone loved ice-cream.

She chewed on her lip for a moment.

"Will you put fruit on top of it?" She bargained.

"What sort?" Gabriel asked suspiciously.

She examined the tin.

"Peaches...in syrup."

Gabriel sighed, sinking further into the sofa cushions.

"Fine." She glared at him. "Thank you?" He added.

The Watcher huffed and held out one hand. Somewhere in the distance a drawer opened with a clatter and a spoon zoomed towards them. She grabbed it out of the air, and set everything down on her desk, before holding out her hand again and summoning a bowl.

Eventually Gabriel was presented with a large bowl of chocolate ice cream, topped with peaches.

"You know I don't need vitamins and crap, right?" He asked digging in.

The Watcher, who'd been busy licking stray bits of syrup of her fingers, frowned at him.

"I...I know that." She said carefully. "I'm sorry. Getting fruit into people...It's a habit left over from..." She faded into silence and he risked a peek at her soul...and nearly lost the ice-cream in his mouth.

That was a lot of grief.

He squinted into the bowl at the peaches and then up at the Watcher who was leaning against her desk, staring off at the distant wall. Both of her hands were clenched tightly into fists and Gabriel could see her shaking very slightly.

And then she drew in a deep breath and it all...stopped.

Oh, there was  _no_ way that was healthy.

His ice-cream was starting to melt, so Gabriel focused on that rather than the woman who was now pottering around, send groceries flying in different directions with quiet waves of her hands. Her magic was calm, the thorns he usually saw, hidden out of sight.

Deceptively dangerous in librarian's jumpers.

"You finished?" She asked, holding her hand out for his empty bowl. Gabriel yawned and handed it over. "It's going to take a few days for you to be strong enough to retrieve what's left of your grace." She set the bowl down on her desk and sighed. "I imagine you're going to be mostly human until then."

Gabriel didn't dignify that with an answer, just pulled his wings around himself and plucked at the feathers, trying to straighten them.

"I'll take you back when I can. I shouldn't have too many shifts in the next few days."

"What about your co-workers?" Gabriel blurted.

"Beg pardon?" She sounded confused.

He lowered his wing just enough to glare at her over the top of it.

"You can't really expect me to believe you put this entire thing together. You said there was a Department, right?"

She blinked at him. Did people seriously think he didn't listen to anything?

"That's right." Gabriel gestured for her to go on. "The Department of Mysteries own the warehouse. I am a Senior Researcher into Time Lines and Dimensional Travel for that department."

"And there are more of you?" Gabriel frowned, unable to comprehend there could be more beings as powerful as she was. "Working here?"

She swallowed, before smiling brightly.

"There were." She gave him a false grimace. "But..there were budget cuts. They couldn't keep the entire team on when only one researcher was needed. So it's just me now."

"Huh."

Well, that was a weird thing to lie about.

* * *

Gabriel slept for most of the next day.

Well, he assumed it was a day. There were no windows and, as they were technically floating in a pocket universe, time progression was weird. He slept on the sofa and measured time in how often the Watcher got up to feed him, shaking him awake to hand him some odd concoction consisting of both sugar and fruit.

She seemed to spend her day surrounded by endless piles of paperwork, moving from one folder to another, scratching down notes with her quill. Occasionally she'd get up and move to one of the doors. He couldn't see  _what_  she was doing, but she always came back with more notes than when she started.

There was no one else there that he could see, no other living presences other than their own. She never stopped to text someone, or take a phone call, never sat down and wrote a letter like Gabriel used to see the humans doing. Even the Winchesters, with their weird co-dependency thing had more contact with the real world than she did.

"I'm bored." Gabriel whined.

"Hello bored." the Watcher returned, not looking up from her calculations.

"That is officially the worst joke ever." Gabriel's wings, still irritatingly corporeal, itched behind him. There was a whole bunch of feathers he just couldn't straighten right up against his spine and they were driving him insane. "What are you doing?"

"Calculating the odds of this radical dying." She murmured, scoring out an entire line and beginning again.

He sobered slightly.

"Do they all die?" He asked quietly.

The Watcher looked up at him and sighed.

"Mostly, no, they don't. Not if I have anything to say about it. You were an unfortunate exception."

He shrugged.

"How does it usually end?"

She bit her lip, looked down at her paperwork and then up at him again.

"You're really interested?" she asked doubtfully.

Gabriel nodded and she grinned for the first time since he'd met her and grabbed her files, crossing the space to flop down next to him on the sofa.

"This is a fairly basic Shift." She started, spreading the files across both of their laps. "It's a love triangle essentially, and you would not believe how much of my work comes down to love." She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, this function here," She pointed to a section of equation, "Represents the Free Radical. These other ones are the major key players. I calculate the equations and then run them through the..." She blinked. "Right. So there are two main outcomes in this. Either she marries the man of her dreams, follows him into his line of work. They get married, get pregnant... and then he dies in an enemy attack, which will orphan their son and leave her devastated. Or, she goes out with the nice guy from the shop. That doesn't really go anywhere, but by the time she realises she made a mistake, man of her dreams has moved on. She eventually settles down with a policeman and again has a son. She lives a long and, mostly inconsequential life."

"So what's the catch?" Gabriel asked, "She should go for the safe guy, right..." She stared at him and Gabriel thought it through. "But it's not about her, is it?" The Watcher's eyes seemed to spark in excitement. "It's about what she sets off. So the son?"

She smiled quietly.

"Precisely. It's not about her, unfortunately. It's about what she will set into play."

"Okay. So what're you going to do about it? Kidnap her too?"

She flushed.

"You were a special case, and no. In fact it'll take very little. There is a 65% chance she'll go for the right man. All it takes is a spilled coffee and a dropped stack of enlistment forms."

"And that's the time line set?"

"Mmm. Think about..." She cast around for a second. "John and Mary Winchester. If they hadn't gotten together..."

"The bloodlines of Cain and Able would never have been mixed. My brother's would never have had their vessels." He realised. "Ah."

"Exactly. The entire Apocalypse, had it not been micro-managed and set in stone to begin with, depend on Mary Campbell running away with the right man."

"What happens to her?" Gabriel asked, gesturing to the papers. "In the end?"

"Winona?" The Watcher shrugged. "If it goes right...she and her son go to live near her parents. She re-marries eventually, the man's an arsehole, but it doesn't last long. Her son has a rocky childhood and there are a lot of issues, but eventually he gets himself sorted out. Does his mother incredibly proud and, if  _his_  shift intervention goes right, lives a long a happy life himself, in which time he will save the lives of billions of people. All because his mother married the right man."

"Huh." Gabriel managed.

She shuffled the papers back into order, re-reading each equation with a small frown.

"Next shift intervention?" He asked, thinking back.

"Each time we interfere with the time line, it's called a "Shift"." She shrugged. "Not the most ideal name, I'll admit, but it was decided long before I came along."

"You're not a goddess." Gabriel blurted.

She stared at him.

"Do you have a fever?" She asked concerned.

"What? No! It's just...this is your day job," And night job because he'd never actually seen her  _leave_. "You're not some pagan playing fate, you're actually just a human doing her job!"

She frowned and pressed one hand to her own forehead, before pressing it against his.

"What are you doing?" He asked, going cross eyed.

"I'm worried you might be running a temperature. You seem to be delirious."

Gabriel scoffed, waving her off.

"You know, I never really got it." He told her.

"Got what?" She murmured, concerned.

"The whole "save the humans" thing. I mean, I didn't  _hate_  them, but they were this thing which tore my family apart. Dad's new baby. But you guys really can do anything can't you?"

The Watcher stiffened and her mood changed entirely, concern replaced with ill hidden anger.

"Yes, we can." She said, sternly. "And that's both a good thing and a bad thing. They create and they destroy. Humanity is a double edged blade wielded by a blind man in a china store."

She got up from the sofa and grabbed the jacked slung over the back of her armchair.

"I'll be back in an hour." She said, pulling it on.

Gabriel struggled upright and then gave up when she shoved him back onto the sofa with a wave of her hand. He was officially pathetic. "Stay there." She warned.

"Where are you going?" He demanded.

She waved the file at him as she headed away between rows of cabinets.

"To spill coffee on someone!"

A minute later a distant door slammed behind her.

* * *

Gabriel managed to walk the next day and went on a raid. It was a testament to how damn engrossed in her work the woman was that the Watcher didn't notice him actually standing up and hobbling away across the warehouse. Apparently a Trickster wandering around wasn't a cause for concern.

She had a kitchen. Well...sort of. It was yet another clearing which was surrounded by a solid wall of filing cabinets, these ones dated from between 1928 and 1934 and consisted of; a stand alone sink (not connected to any water supply), a filing cabinet which after further investigation was actually a fridge  _pretending_  to be a filing cabinet, a freezer of a similar design and a cooker, on which an old fashioned kettle was perched. The teapot on the kitchen table was stone cold, which meant it had been at least two hours since her last cup.

Staggering this far had taken more out of him than he'd thought, so he pulled the last of his ice cream out of the freezer and settled against the table to eat it.

It was quiet in here. His hearing remained on an angelic level, no matter how low his grace was and the only thing he could hear was the quiet scratching of the Watcher's quill some twenty feet away. Nothing moved or scurried or grew.

Gabriel's Father had created a world which was never silent, never still. On Earth, everything constantly changed.

Here, nothing did.

Eventually he made his way over to the nearest wall and the doors set into it, ever meter or so. They weren't all identical, he realised. Most were made out of the same wood as his own door, although each had a bronze plaque on the front with what looked like a serial number etched into it. Some of them were painted, some scorched in places, so felt very cold to the touch and some very warm. One had a large radio-active sticker on it and another a set of tally marks, carved roughly into the wood.

They were all locked.

"How many doors are there?" He asked when he eventually made his way back to her office.

The Watcher, being apparently incredibly unobservant, jumped, staring at him with wild eyes.

"What?" she demanded, voice high.

"The doors. How many?"

She gave a casual wave.

"Two hundred, give or take. The warehouse changes as it sees fit. Some of them are permanent, some aren't."

Gabriel eyed the floor warily.

"Is the warehouse sentient?"

"No. Just well engineered."

"What does that mean?" He demanded.

She put down her quill.

"It was redesigned with this purpose in mind. The entire building is covered in runes, it's what makes us a pocket dimension." She paused to check he was following, which he was. Gabriel was getting the impression this woman had spent a lot of her life dumbing things down for other people's benefit. "You remember I told you they developed the ability to calculate turning points in time lines..."

"And locate free radicals, yeah..."

"Well, all of that magic was built into the warehouse. It automatically seeks out these breaks in the time lines and hones in on them, collecting data about the situation."

Gabriel leaned against a cabinet, frowning.

Magic. She'd said. Not science, not energy, not grace. Magic.

"Why do you need to do the equations then?"

The Watcher tugged on the end of her braid.

"Who is to say what the happy ending is to a story?" She asked him and he paused. "If we set the warehouse to identify the preferred outcome as one which benefited the free radical, millions would die. If we set it to identify what was best for the general population, you have to define what's best. There is no way a building could feasible make that judgement, and even then you'd still need people to actually intervene." She scowled bitterly. "You have to understand Gabriel, the people who built this place, they wanted to be gods. They wanted to meddle in the lives of millions. They were arrogant and they were wrong. The warehouse simply identifies the breaks because  _they_  wanted the power to choose right from wrong, not because they wanted what was best."

"Then why do you work here?" Gabriel pressed, glaring at her.

She froze for a second.

"It pays well." She said at last, turning back to her paperwork.

* * *

"What are you doing?"

Gabriel flushed, embarrassed.

"Nothing?" He offered.

"Because," She continued as though he hadn't spoken, all the while eyeing him strangely, "It looks like you're trying to scratch your back with the corner of one of my cabinets."

"Wow, you're smart." Gabriel drawled, stepping away from the filing cabinet in question. There was a small pile of incriminating feathers next to it.

"Gabriel." She warned. "What's wrong?"

Gabriel crossed his arms and stared at his feet.

"Not telling you." He mumbled.

There was a long sigh and then the Watcher muttered,

"I swear, it's like dealing with George." then louder she repeated. "What's wrong?"

Gabriel snarled, glared when it didn't get him anywhere and turned around.

"Oh!" She realised, stepping closer to the tangled snarl of feathers just where he couldn't reach him. "You're bumfled."

"Bumfled?" Gabriel asked, peering over his shoulder.

"Mm. It's all caught and in the wrong place. Long sleeves in jackets when you forget to hold on the cuffs."

"Huh."

"Would you like me to fix it?" She offered.

Gabriel paused.

Wings were personal. They were something for family. Well...family you actually talked to. When you had thousands of brothers and sisters, that was an important distinction. Wings were one of an angels greatest weaknesses, even in their true forms they had their wings. It used to be that Michael or Lucifer would help him with his wings, but that had been a long time ago. Actually, now he thought about it, that might have been the last time the damn things were actually corporeal.

Only now they were and Gabriel didn't have a brother around to help him.

He stared at the woman over his shoulder for a long moment.

They were friends?

Comrades?

Maybe. She knew almost everything about him. He knew nothing about her. But she'd sheltered him, healed him, broken bread with him. Well...sugar really, but the point stood.

"Please." He murmured and she nodded ushering him towards the kitchen. He straddled on one the wooden chairs there, giving her unlimited access to his back.

"You know what you're doing?" He queried, slightly anxious.

The Watcher gave a warm laugh.

"You have seen my hair, haven't you? I'm an expert at untangling things."

Gabriel gnawed on his knuckle. There was a reason he was usually chewing on candy. It was a nervous tick.

"Who's George?" He asked after several minutes.

Her hands, buried in his feathers, stilled.

"He's..." She coughed. "He's an old friend of mine. We went to school together. He ended up being my brother-in-law actually. He used to run a joke shop with his twin brother. They're a lot like you."

Gabriel stilled.

"You're married?" He twisted to stare at her.

The Watcher swallowed, looking extremely tired.

"I was." She murmured. "Not any more."

Divorce or Death, Gabriel wondered silently, before frowning as he tried to work out which one was worse.

She went back to straightening feathers and Gabriel relaxed as the irritation which had been plaguing him for days slowly faded.

"I've not died yet." He told her.

The Watcher snorted softly.

"There's still time." She murmured. Gabriel turned just enough to see the faint smile curving her lips.

"Boy, do you know how to make a guest feel welcome." He drawled. She tugged on one his feathers in retaliation.

"How's the grace doing?" She asked casually.

"I'm giving her all she's got," He quipped. "But we just can't get the shields up, Captain!"

There was silence for a moment, before the Watcher asked.

"Did you just misquote Star Trek at me?"

"They have Star Trek where you're from?" He twisted to looked at her and she rolled her eyes.

"Yes. We do. My universe isn't much different from yours."

"Except you have magic instead of angels."

She froze and he smirked at her.

"What? How dumb do you think I am?"

"I don't think you want me to answer that." She countered, narrowing her brown eyes. "But yes. We had magic. I don't know if we had angels. You're the first one I've ever met."

"Aww. I took your angelic virginity."

She glared at him.

"I can just stop," She warned, pulling her hands away from his feathers.

"No!" Gabriel yelped desperately. She was almost finished too.

"Then answer the question properly."

It took him a moment to remember what the question actually was, by which time she'd gone back to sorting his wings.

"Another day or so and I'll be able to hide these bad boys." He flexed his wings for emphasis and she flicked the back of his head. "I can get the rest of my grace then."

"Do you think Lucifer suspects anything?" She asked and Gabriel winced.

The answer was probably not. Probably. His brother was an arrogant son of a...ahem...and the thought that someone he'd killed wasn't actually dead wasn't one that would really occur to him. On the other hand...

"It should have worked. In a way, he did kill me." Gabriel took the silence as a cue to continue. "The double I left behind was still me. It was still my grace. That's all I am in the end. A string of celestial intent."

"You survived, that's what's important." The Watcher stepped back. "All done. Please pick up the feathers you've left on the floor."

Gabriel got up to gape at her.

"I am a being millenia old.."

"And you will be picking up after yourself." The Watcher told him sternly.

"You mock my pain!" He complained, flopping dramatically into the chair, which almost over balanced. He could not wait to have his grace back.

The Watcher stared at him for a long moment before saying,

"Life is pain, Angel. Anyone who says otherwise is selling something." And walking away.

Gabriel stared after her for a long time.

Did she just quote "The Princess Bride" at him?

* * *

"Ready?"

Gabriel buzzed on the spot, his now intangible wings, fluttering frantically behind him.

"Yep!"

They were going to get his  _grace_. The rest of him!

The Watcher rolled her eyes and pulled out the stick she always had stashed on her person.

" _Alohamora._ " She said, tapping the door firmly. A loud thunk went through the warehouse accompanied by a wash of magic as something which had previously not been connected to anything in particular, reconnected to Gabriel's universe. He bounded out of the now open door and into the bright sunlight, taking in the surrounding streets with joy. The Watcher followed him, leaning in the doorway, watching him with a small smile on her face.

"You'll be okay to get there?" She asked as Gabriel resisted the urge to hover on the spot.

"Oh, please!" Gabriel grinned at her. "I'm an Archangel. I'll be fine."

She looked unimpressed by this and Gabriel wondered if she'd misheard him.

"Archangel!" He repeated, waving at himself.

"I hadn't forgotten." She stepped backwards into the shadow of the warehouse, avoiding the sunlight. "Take care of yourself, Gabriel."

Gabriel spread his wings and then paused.

"Uh..." He managed. This was going to hurt, he just knew it. The Watcher waited patiently, one eyebrow raised. "I think...You didn't have to help me. So...Thank you for not letting me bleed on of the pavement and then get chopped into little bits by my big brother!" He said that all very quickly, but judging by the surprised look on her face, she'd heard enough to get the general gist.

She grinned.

"You're very welcome, Gabriel."

Gabriel spread his wings and flew.

* * *

The motel, or what was left of it, was completely abandoned when he arrived there. All of the windows and few walls had been blown out, destroyed in the destruction that followed the death of an Archangel.

Or..you know...the  _faked_  death of an Archangel.

The double he'd left behind had long since faded, leaving his angel blade stuck into motel floor, with the slight echo of his grace clinging to it.

He shifted on his feet nervously.

In theory, his grace, what was left anyway, should've been stored in his blade. In theory.

"Just do it." He snapped, crouching down. "Like pulling a primary, nice and quick."

He grabbed the blade, pulling it from the floor.

"Oh, crap!" He breathed.

And fell over.

* * *

His grace was back and it felt  _brilliant_! He flew to India just to prove he could and spent several hours flitting from rooftop to rooftop, taking in the bright colours and scents. He flew to America and gorged on the weirdest, most sugar filled candy he could find.

His grace was back and he was unstoppable.

* * *

His grace induced high lasted a full month, before life came crashing down on him again.

He was alone.

Lucifer had murdered the pagans, with the exception of Kali. Anyone he might have named friend was dead.

He couldn't go back to the angels. Michael would expect him to join his side and Lucifer, if he found out Gabriel was still alive, would send the hordes of Hell after him.

He couldn't risk going back to being the Trickster, the risk of the Winchester's finding him was too great and they couldn't keep a secret from each other, let alone the rest of the freakin' world.

He had nowhere to go.

Only that wasn't entirely true.

They were friend's, weren't they? She'd saved his life and she definitely needed company before she went properly insane. He could visit other universes...see those happy endings. That'd be fun.

* * *

He went back and found the door unlocked.

The Watcher wasn't immediately visible, curled up on the side of her bed, staring at nothing very much.

"Hey." He said softly, trying not to startle her.

Her brown eyes jumped to his and she paled dramatically, sitting upright in bed.

"You're not dead!" She yelled accusingly.

"Why is that a problem!" Gabriel yelled back and she scowled.

"You're supposed to be dead. Your time line is dark. I can't see it. Therefore you. Are. Dead!"

"No! I'm not!" He rolled his eyes. "Gees, you said yourself, me dying was only one option."

"Yes, but people don't get tangled in my time line." She told him patiently. "I don't have fri..." She paused. "Why are you here?" She demanded, suspiciously.

"I have decided..." Gabriel announced. "That I'm going to stay here and help you."

The Watcher stared at him.

"What?"

"I wanna see other universes."

"You're an Archangel." She told him, looking confused. "You can do that anyway."

"Yeah, but this has happy endings!" He beamed at her and she just looked dazed. "It's more fun with someone else." He added hopefully.

"Right." She blinked. "I'm sorry, you want to stay here?"

"Yes."

"With me?" She added, incredulous.

"Yep!"

She pinched her arm and sighed when it apparently hurt.

"Why?" She wailed, looking utterly bewildered.

"Because we're friends!" Gabriel proclaimed. It was what he did. He had the horn and everything. Or at least he'd  _had_  the horn. Couldn't actually remember where he left the damn thing.

"Says who?" The Watcher cried.

"Me." Gabriel grinned. "Give in, I swear it's easier."

She stared at him for a long moment, before sighing and nodding.

"I need tea." She decided.

"Sure thing, Watcher." Gabriel turned to head towards the kitchen.

"Hermione."

He turned back to look at her, frowning.

"What?"

"Hermione Granger." She got to her feet and smiled at him, nervously. "That's my name. It's a pleasure to meet you properly."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2
> 
> Let us know what you think. Reviews are greatly appreciated.


	3. Learning

**Learning**

Nothing much happened over the first couple of days, other than Hermione eyeing him as though she expected him to explode, which she probably did because she tensed every time he walked past her. Gabriel found it rather funny and spent as much time as he could perched just out of her sightline to scare her.

Something had evidently gone terribly wrong in Hermione's past because the third time she spotted Gabriel, this time wearing a dark cloak he'd found on her hat stand, hovering just out of view, she'd shrieked and thrown him against the wall.

"OW!" Gabriel complained loudly.

Hermione stared at him for a solid second before blinking, her eyes focusing.

"Don't do  _that_!" She scolded and he hit the floor with a thump. She appeared in front of him with a crack and crouched down to look at him. "You really shouldn't sneak up on me," She added, looking him over for injuries.

"Somehow I'm never expecting you to be all...Xena-ish." Gabriel bounced to his feet and grinned at her. "What's in the file?"

"The details of your murder at my hand," Hermione said blandly, leading the way back to her desk.

"You won't kill me," Gabriel told her confidently.

Hermione simply snorted and straightened her jumper.

"Not today." She countered. "We have work to do and you can make yourself useful and read that." She pointed at the large folder on her desk which was slowly undoing its own binding due to its enormous size.

Gabriel looked at the folder and then back at her.

She raised an eyebrow and Gabriel smirked devilishly, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Oh, for crying out loud," Hermione sighed, giving in. "I don't know why I indulge you, really I don't."

Gabriel leaned against her armchair.

"It's my good looks. So are you going to tell me..."

Hermione walked up to him, slapped her palm against his forehead and  _pushed_.

_Shift 3694...Multiple radicals...Researcher Oswald...Granger..._

He staggered backwards, blinking rapidly as the new information slotted into his head.

"You're telepathic." He blurted, before shaking his head rapidly as though he'd gotten water in his ears. Yuck...he hated information downloads.

"Not really." Hermione opened the file and began flicking through the paper, by-passing hand written reports and forms. She looked completely calm as though she hadn't just dumped a whole load of data into his head. "But I am magical. And technically speaking, you're a wavelength. Passing information to a wavelength isn't all that much different from memory extraction."

"Urgh...how many times did they stop this guy dying from pneumonia?" Gabriel asked, searching through the information in his head. "And how long have they been fucking with this time line?"

"Language." She reprimanded gently. "And far too often for my liking, but it's a complicated case. The main issue with this universe is that it contains so many people who can do my job for me. Seers...time travellers." She clarified when he just looked at her blankly. "I cannot stand time travellers!" Hermione added rather bitterly.

"There's not one free radical here..." Gabriel stared at her. "There's at least fifty."

Hermione grimaced.

"And they  _all_  have to go right. Now the basic ones have been set in place over the last century. The pneumonia incidents were...the base work for something indefinitely larger." She waved her hand carelessly. "But the one we're concerned with today is Lewis."

* * *

**Shift 3694.62-Granger/Gabriel**

"I need you to promise me you'll behave." Hermione murmured quietly from her chair.

Gabriel grinned at her.

"Shan't" He teased.

The stall had been created by Gabriel, much to Hermione's relief. Apparently, her awe inspiring powers drew the line at conjuring stuff out of thin air. The table was scattered with leaflets and forms, as well as several clipboards, all of which went unnoticed by the steady stream of Boston college students who passed them by.

Hermione merely rolled her eyes and went back to staring at a particular office directly across the hall from them. It had only two occupants the Professor and the Free Radical they were they to see.

"This  _isn't_  fair!"

Gabriel's head snapped around at the wail and both he and Hermione made their way towards the door, which stood slightly ajar.

"I need those credits to graduate!" A woman cried, sounding on the verge of tears.

A second voice spoke, oily and annoying in a way which made Gabriel's nose wrinkle.

"There, sugar. I'm sure we can find  _some_ way of fixing this. A faculty member willing to speak up on your behalf."

"Uh..."

"And of course a girl in your position..."

"Don't touch me!"

There was a yelp and then Gabriel and Hermione burst into the room.

The professor, a weak chinned and smarmy looking man in his mid-forties looked up shocked but didn't quite manage to step away from his student fast enough to hide where his hands had been reaching for.

"Miss..." Hermione started, eyes narrowed as she held her hand out. "Can you come with me, please? I need someone to show me around."

The student, looking pale, upset and also furious, stumbled towards Hermione without saying anything. Hermione brushed against Gabriel as she escorted her out and Gabriel smiled like a shark as he caught the thought she'd sent him.

_Leave him alive_.

The door closed with a snap behind the women.

Gabriel emerged into the corridor five minutes later feeling extremely satisfied, to find it deserted except for the girl and Hermione, who were drinking coffee from the Thermos stashed under the stall.

"Now are you sure you're all right?" Hermione was asking.

The girl shrugged, showing the sort of pragmatism which was developed rather than born with.

"Wasn't the first time...Won't be the last."

Hermione's lips thinned but she seemed willing to ignore this for the moment. Gabriel wasn't and used his grace to tighten the ropes slightly.

"Now, I hope you don't mind, but we thought we heard you say you need college credits..."

"Oh yeah." The girl's expression soured. "It's freakin' bullcrap...but you know. What can you do?"

Wordlessly, Gabriel and Hermione pointed to the banner behind them.

**Student Placements! Credits Guaranteed!**

Gabriel resisted the urge to let off fireworks.

The girl's mouth formed a silent "O" before she turned back to them with a grin.

"You got anythin' in Political Science?"

Hermione didn't even pretend to look.

"Nothing." She assured her blandly and the girl crumpled. "Look, most of these placements are highly contested... usually there's a lot of people searching for places. However," She smiled at the girl who was starting to look like someone had killed her puppy. "I do have this."

Gabriel, almost vibrating with excitement, handed over the only genuine application on the table. She took it and they watched as the girl frowned, reading it over.

"Astrophysics?" One brown eyebrow raised insolently as she glared at them over the top of the form. "I don't know  _anything_  about that! I'm dumb...seriously, I spend more time on Tumblr than I do in class!"

"It's essentially data handling," Hermione placated. "Plugging in numbers and reminding the chief researcher to eat." The student looked doubtful. "What's more...you will definitely get in. Spend a few months in New Mexico with Dr Foster and you'll have the credits you need. I promise."

"I dunno," She chewed on the end of her dark hair. "I could just...Take another class or something."

"Can you afford to?" Hermione asked, serious.

"Not really." Dark eyes glared at them. "How come I'm guaranteed to get it? Is this some ruse where you're gonna sell me off as a slave the minute I sign? Since when do they do these things on paper anyway? What are you two, dinosaurs?"

Gabriel burst out laughing.

"Oh, I like her." He crowed and Hermione spared a moment to glare at him. He stuck his tongue out at her.

"No one else has applied," Hermione explained, "The deadline is tomorrow and I can assure you that no one else is going to."

"How come?"

Hermione grimaced and opened her mouth to say something that would no doubt be suitably tactful.

"The scientist is freakin' nuts." Gabriel butted in. "She thinks she can find bridges in the sky or something...Doesn't matter. She's desperate for help and you really need those credits. So take a leap of faith and sign."

Five minutes later they had a sheaf of forms signed with a curly signature tucked into an envelope and a very satisfied looking Hermione. Well...satisfied if you could read her aura. Outwardly she just looked mildly pleased.

"Dr Foster will be in touch soon." She promised, shuffling papers.

"Oh...here!" Gabriel snapped his fingers behind his back before handing over a small paper bag. "I think you dropped this." Next to him, he could feel Hermione going rigid, but the girl just frowned at him.

"Uh huh." She took it from him, tucking it into her purse without question. She paused, chewing on her lip. "Listen...thanks for this." She waved the envelope. "And...uh...thanks for the rescue. I coulda handled it but..."

Hermione smiled.

"Sometimes these things go better with someone else on your side. It's quite all right." She made a shooing motion with her hand. "You need to hand in those papers, Miss Lewis."

"Right." The voluptuous brunette grinned at them. "I don't wanna know what happened to Professor Ward, do I?"

All three of them turned to look at the doorway to the office, from which the professor in question was yet to appear. Gabriel smirked.

"Nope." He agreed.

The girl seemed to consider this before nodding.

"Cool. See ya!" She turned, already digging into her pocket for her iPod.

They watched her go, both smiling slightly as the girl chattered to herself about something neither of them understood.

"Do  _I_  want to know what happened to that bastard?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Are you squeamish?" Gabriel challenged, grinning. Hermione shrugged.

"Fair enough." Her nose wrinkled in disgust. "I can't stand people like that."

"You and me both, Mimi."

"Don't call me that." She complained, shoving her Thermos into her pocket.

"Anyway, the taser should help..."

Hermione went as stiff as a board, pivoting on one heel to stare at him.

"You gave her a taser?" She shrieked but didn't wait for him to reply. "Well, I always wondered where she got the damn thing from." She added in a mutter. "Universe works in mysterious ways."

"Is that your motto?" Gabriel asked cheekily.

"It should be." She complained. "That taser..." Hermione murmured as Gabriel snapped away their stall with his grace. "Just how dangerous is it?"

"It won't kill anyone..." Gabriel paused as he flew them back to London. "Well...probably."

Hermione actually laughed.

* * *

"Does today feel like a Tuesday?" Hermione asked him casually, three days later.

Gabriel shrugged, busy sucking on a lollipop.

"I think it does." She decided and got to her feet, summoning the forest green cloak which hung on the hat stand. Gabriel couldn't work out why she owned so many of the damn things.

"We usually operate around the dawn of the twenty-first century. Don't ask me why. To borrow a phrase " _that's when everything changes_ "." Hermione shrugged. "However, sometimes the turning point happens earlier."

"Early enough that your warehouse will freak people out?" He asked, squinting at her cloak.

"Something like that." She murmured. "You coming?"

* * *

**Shift: 83497-Granger/Gabriel**

Gabriel looked around the woodland clearing and sniffed.

"No smog." He frowned at her. "How early is this?"

Hermione shrugged.

"The Dark Ages. Or...what we would call the Dark Ages. Hopefully, if I get this right it'll be known as the Age of Enlightenment."

"And if it goes wrong, sweet-cheeks? What then?"

Hermione growled.

"I'm trying not to think about it." She snapped.

The doorway, which on this side was a rough slab of wood set into a cave entrance, was several feet behind them, partially hidden by the ivy. The rest of the woodland was green and wet in a way which was unique to Britain and alive, calling out to Gabriel grace.

There was no pollution here and the human influence was minimal. It reminded him of the Garden in a way. All though without Joshua's rather irritating presence. That guy could make a snake feel bad for stepping on a flower.

(In Gabriel's defence, he hadn't meant to destroy that flower bed, it was just where he happened to crash land.)

The undergrowth rustled, shook and eventually deposited a young man into the clearing. His hair was jet black and had a twig sticking out of it and his eyes were a bright, unnerving blue. He had high, sharp cheekbones which made him look like an elf, large round ears which completely belayed that theory and a blue scarf tied around his neck.

It wasn't that that had Gabriel staring though.

Hermione's magic was bright and strong and intertwined with everything that made her human. This guy, however...

It was like looking at the sun. You could barely see the human shell holding the raw power together, let alone the aura which was almost entirely eclipsed by it.

If Hermione's home world  _had_  magic then this guy  _was_  magic.

"Lord Emrys!" Hermione said brightly and bowed, her curls sweeping forward and bouncing lightly.

Emrys flushed whilst Gabriel just stared at her in bemusement. Sure, bow to the sun-man but not to the Archangel.

"Please...don't." The boy muttered, waving his hands nervously.

Hermione straightened with a smile, one that Gabriel was surprised to see was actually genuine.

"Gabriel," She said cheerily. "I'd like you to meet Lord Emrys. Emrys, this is my associate, Gabriel."

Emrys stared blatantly at Gabriel before he stepped closer to hand over the wicker basket he was holding.

"You know he's got wings..." The mage whispered to Hermione in an awkward voice. "Don't you?"

"Erm..." Hermione winced. "Yes, I do. I did wonder whether or not you'd be able to see them."

Emrys shrugged. Apparently, he could see a lot of things he wasn't supposed to.

"What are you?" He asked Gabriel bluntly.

"He's an angel," Hermione said quickly cutting across Gabriel before he could be his usual witty self, swinging the basket nervously as she did so. It was full of herbs, Gabriel noticed.

The man frowned, scratched his head and then said,

"What's an angel?"

Well...That hadn't happened in a seriously long time. Gabriel pouted.

The sun-man followed this up with.

"Wait! The Christians! They have angel things, don't they?"

Hermione gave him a stiff smile.

"Yes, they do. And Gabriel's not a thing."

Gabriel would have added his own indignation to this protest, but he was too busy listening to the silence. No Chorus. No angels. He shivered. The silence was gonna drive him nuts.

Hermione patted Gabriel neatly between his wing joints, which made him bristle slightly and turned back to Emrys.

"How've you been?" She asked eagerly. "Any trouble recently?"

Emrys shrugged.

"The usual. Had a Gorgon a few weeks back, but the Knights took care of that." Hermione raised an eyebrow and a slightly bashful grin appeared on the man's face. "Well, that's what they think anyway."

"Nothing else?" She inquired innocently. Gabriel turned his head to stare at her judgmentally. Subtle, she was. Real subtle.

"Er..." Emrys rubbed the back of his neck as those large ears stained red. "There was this Sorceress..."

"Oh?"

"Enchanted sleep potion." Emrys flushed. "It was meant for Uther, but the prat drank it instead. She thought that no one could ever truly love the king...don't blame her for that one actually." He shook himself even as Hermione hummed an agreement. "Anyway, dollop-head decided that  _that_  was the night to borrow his father's goblet for a speech and drank the lot." Hermione frowned sympathetically as the man rambled. "Only..."

"Let me guess," Gabriel broke in with a smirk. "True love's kiss, right?"

By now the man's entire face was red and he was staring resolutely at the forest floor.

"We tried Gwen and..."

Hermione smiled at him.

"It wasn't her, was it?" She asked gently.

The man kicked at some leaves sullenly and didn't answer.

"Oh, dear." Hermione sighed, but her soul kept smiling. "Come here."

The gangly youth bent at the waist and allowed himself to be folded into Hermione's arms, looking utterly pathetic.

"Has anyone told him?" She asked.

Emrys shook his head miserably. Well, Gabriel assumed miserably. He couldn't tell because his head was buried in Hermione's neck.

"Does anyone know?" She added and got another "no". "Ah, well." She grabbed Emrys by the shoulders and shoved him back slightly so she could see his face. "What are you going to do about it?" She asked brightly.

Emrys stared at her, seeming to hang from her hands.

"Me?" He squeaked. "Nothing! Why would I do anything?" Hermione gave him an expectant look and the living sun scowled. "No! I'm on thin ice as it is. I almost got caught by the druids again. And that bloody dragon is causing me problems. Besides," He sighed and Gabriel came to the horrifying conclusion that the guy with enough power to blow a hole in the world was just a teenager. Or, you know, a toddler to Gabriel. "He doesn't..."

Hermione smiled sadly and pulled him back into her arms for a quick hug.

"You need to get going." She told him and the boy shrugged. "The hunting party will be coming this way any moment."

"Probably. I got you the herbs you wanted, the feverfew took a bit of finding but..."

"Thank you." Hermione stepped backwards and then bowed at the waist. "A pleasure as always, Lord Emrys."

"Uh...yeah." Emrys grimaced vaguely at Gabriel. "Nice to meet you, by the way."

"Ditto." Gabriel managed.

In the distance, there was the faint thunder of hooves and the clank of steel. Emrys flushed.

"Bother." He muttered. "I gotta..." The rest of his sentence was lost as he sprinted off into the woods, crashing through the dog's mercury and ground elder with none of the grace his lithe form suggested.

"C'mon," Hermione said, her smile now rather faint. "It wouldn't do to be caught here." She led him back through the doorway with a wave, basket bobbing along in the air behind her.

* * *

"So," Gabriel drew out the word as long as he could, whilst she chopped herbs in a neat and practised way. "Lord Emrys?"

To his surprise and unending joy, Hermione flushed slightly.

"The title is a bit unnecessary, I'll admit. He won't grow into it for a long time." She gave him an amused glance. "But...In my universe, we had a similar counterpart to him. He was responsible for the foundation of our very society, so much of our knowledge came from his genius..." She flushed again when Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "I treat him with respect because in my world he was definitely owed it, even if here he is a bit of an idiot."

"Huh. And the happy ending?"

Hermione's large knife didn't pause in her chopping, but she took her eyes away from the board to stare at Gabriel.

"It's not what you think." She told him dryly. "True love...it's not the be all and end all of the universes. It may look like that, more often than not, but it isn't. Believe me on that."

Gabriel waved a hand over himself.

"Archangel, remember? I know that." Hell, most soulmates never even met each other, let alone saved the world together. "So what's the deal?"

"Emrys..." Hermione pursed her lips. "He's powerful. Unbelievably powerful. And that power, the very essence of magic which runs through him, is destined to bring Britain to order, to unite the kingdoms and bring forth the Age of Enlightenment. And to do that, he needs to make sure the Prince manages to get onto the throne and survives the hundred and one assassination attempts by the furious and mad magic practitioners living in his kingdom."

"This would be  _"Dollop-head"?"_  Gabriel asked mirthfully. "His soul mate."

Hermione scowled.

"Pure coincidence." She snapped.

"Uh huh." Something clicked in Gabriel's head and his eyes widened. "Wait a mojito...Is he...?"

Hermione looked up, smirked and didn't say anything. Gabriel decided that anyone with that much of an evil gleam in their eye should be a Trickster.

"Wow." He breathed. "You really know how to show a guy the sights."

"Oh, yeah," Hermione breathed sarcastically. "You can tell by the way they're cueing around the corner to meet me."

"You were married," Gabriel said, deceptively lightly. " _Someone_ must have liked you."

Several delicate jars smashed as Hermione's magic snapped out, her emotions spiking furiously. Gabriel blinked and then grimaced. Hermione had vanished and the kitchen knife was buried in his skull.

"Oh, come on." He complained, pulling the blade free with a scowl. It let out a loud squelching sound and he healed it as it left. He wasn't sure if she actually had good aim, or if she'd gotten lucky, or if her magic had propelled the blade to where it would hurt but not kill. "She's lucky I don't feel like smiting anyone right now." He left the knife and the bits of brain matter clinging to it, on her desk to prove a point before retreating to the rafters. There was a beam there which was just the right size to slot between his wings if he decided to lie down on his back. Also, from there, he could see everything in the warehouse.

Hermione was in her bed, curled up in a lump under the covers, the very faint sound of her tears echoing across the space.

For a brief second, Gabriel felt repentant before he pushed the feeling aside.

"Touchy, touchy." He murmured to himself.

* * *

_...Rose and Hugo...Rose and Hugo...RoseandHugo...RoseandHugo..._

Gabriel grimaced and used his grace to push the human slighter deeper into sleep. Her dreams were leaking into his head again.

It wasn't like he tried to read her mind. He just didn't put a lot of effort into avoiding it. Once he had made contact with a mind, it was easy to just slip back into tune with it. He was curious by nature and it was  _so_  much easier to reach out and see what was making her sad than actually asking her. Not that he ever got much. Most of her thoughts and actual memories were shielded from him. And anyway...It wasn't like he was the only guy in there.

The first time he'd come across the connection the back lash had given him a headache. Although that may be more to do with the book she'd lobbed at him.

"Don't touch that!" She yelped. "You'll make him nervous."

"Him!" Gabriel yelled back, annoyed. "Why is he living in your head?"

She didn't bother to answer just slapped his hand to her forehead and Gabriel caught the memory she pretty much threw at him.

" _Legillimens." She whispered, starting the connection. The man, with his aching, empty mind, seized the bridge and grasped it tight, maintaining it even when she lowered her wand. Hermione smiled at him sadly. "Better?" She asked softly. She was younger here, by at least five years._

_The man nodded sadly._

" _It's not the same," He told her honestly, "But...better than the silence."_

As far as Gabriel could figure, this guy was like an angel...at least in the sense that he heard the host in his head.

"He used to hear the echo of billions of his people, happy and sad, light and dark. They're all gone now." Hermione had shrugged, looking strangely sympathetic. "The least I can do is stop him going mad. He's been through enough as it is."

Gabriel stared at the sleeping human without blinking. Things had been quiet since she'd thrown the knife at him, although he could now admit that he  _might_  have deserved it.

He didn't know who Rose and Hugo were. Minds didn't work like that and dreams even less. They could be her siblings, friend, lovers...Humans formed strange connections. It wasn't his job to understand them.

* * *

The door to Gabriel's universe was kept wedged open with a slip of paper. This was partly so Gabriel could come and go as he pleased, and partly so the faint strains of angel radio could drift on through.

He'd gotten so used to the discordant cacophony of Michael's soldiers waging war, that when it all went silent, it stuck out in his mind like a proverbial " _Some thing is wrong_ " sign.

And then everything went to Hell.

Literally.

Seraphs were screaming, Raphael, usually the most level headed of the Archangel's, was bellowing his  _fury_  and there was the twittering echo of the cherubs trying and failing, to console everyone.

Lucifer and Michael were nowhere to be heard.

His big brothers, who had been continuous drones in the back of his head for  _months_ , weren't there.

No more Michael, barking out orders to his troops.

No more Lucifer, calling out in a tempting whisper to anyone foolish enough to listen.

"I gotta go!" He called.

Hermione looked up from her paperwork at him, looked down at one of the post-it notes on her desk, scowled and waved him on.

That was  _never_  good.

He paused next to his door, toying with the paper jammed in the frame.

If they'd both gone silent, they must be dead. The final battle.

It was probably a wasteland out there, the whole Earth destroyed, fire and brimstone and...

Sunlight.

He peered around the door and frowned.

"Ain't that something?" He murmured, stepping out into the bright London sunshine. He pulled the door to behind him but didn't dare close it fully. He might need to make a quick escape.

The buildings were intact, the humans kept walking and talking.

Something was definitely wrong here.

* * *

Gabriel didn't have any friends left, aside from Hermione and she wouldn't tell him anything he could easily find out for himself, so he went to the next best thing.

The Winchesters.

If there was a supernatural event within this century, you could bet your sweet ass the Winchesters would be at the centre of it.

Or...one of them at least.

Dean Winchester was kneeling, bloody and bruised in a graveyard in Kansas. The four Horsemen's rings were on the ground in front of him.

They'd opened the cage, Gabriel realised, hovering invisibly nearby, and there was no Sam...which meant no Lucifer.

There was a corpse lying in the nearby grass...the ratty old hunter who'd tried to stake him once and his soul was still hovering within reach. Gabriel fixed his broken neck with a flick of his fingers before ramming the soul back down the man's throat.

Bobby Singer sat up and, in that brief second between life and death spotted Gabriel.

"Huh?" He managed.

Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows and the hunter blinked, immediately losing sight of him.

Bobby was covered in gore. It looked like someone had been exploded here...must have been Lucifer, Gabriel realised. He'd always loved that old playing card. No one knew why. Getting flesh out of your feathers was a pain. It was just a... _quirk,_ Raph used to call it.

The Archangel leaned back against the Impala to see what would happen next.

He didn't expect a  _miracle_.

There are miracles, such as performed by angels, minor deities and that guy who made chocolate in Belgium that tasted like your second orgasm of the night.

Then there are  _miracles_ , the big kind, the once-in-a-lifetime, never-see-it-twice kind.

This was one of those.

Gabriel's baby brother stepped from  _nothing_  onto the grass next to Dean, shook his head as if to clear it, before folding his wings and crouching down to talk to the human.

Gabriel wasn't an idiot. He knew  _exactly_  who those bits of flesh and bone had belonged to, and Cas had almost been human the last time he'd seen him, running on the bare fumes of grace as he fell, slowly but surely, from Heaven. There was no way he would have survived Lucifer's wrath.

Now, however, he was resplendent as a soldier of heaven should be, massive coal coloured wings tucked tight to his back and a grace, bright and pure with energy, coiling inside of his vessel.

Gabriel laughed, mostly out of relief but also slightly out of jealousy.

"Daddy's boy." He called to the unaware angel.

* * *

It took him a while to work out what had happened.

Sam had given in to Lucifer as Gabriel knew he would and then somehow, defying all the laws of the universe, he'd not only taken control back, but he managed to open the cage and drag both Lucifer and Michael in with him.

Hermione sat patiently through this explanation, although Gabriel had the smallest suspicion that none of this was news to her, occasionally drinking from her mug.

"What will you do now?" She asked once he was done.

He blinked.

"Huh?"

She smiled slightly.

"Your brother's aren't looking for you, Gabriel. Lucifer can't find you now."

He scowled.

"If anyone could it'd be him." He complained. "And who says I gotta do something different anyway? Maybe I like it here!"

Hermione gave him the sort of look usually reserved for recalcitrant children. It made him want to do something insane, like paint the walls with honey.

"Gabriel, no one in their right mind would want to be here. It's boring and tiring and endless. Even  _I_  don't want to be here!"

"Then why are you here?" Gabriel yelled, confused. "I don't get it! And seriously, when does your freakin' shift end...you've been here constantly for two years..." He gaped at her, thinking that over. "Mimi...Your shift does end? You gotta clock out at some point, right?"

Hermione grimaced.

"Everyone clocks out eventually." She murmured. "I've only got a few more months and..."

"You know," Gabriel said, deceptively lightly. "I can tell when you're lying. I've got no idea why you even try."

She froze, gaping at him.

"What?" She breathed, eyes wide.

He steepled his fingers, trying his best to look superior.

"Archangel of Judgement, remember?" Gabriel leaned forward over the scrubbed kitchen table to stare into her eyes. "Why're you lying to me, Mimi?"

Her emotions were as visible to him as his wings were to her, so he saw every single ounce of pain and grief and sheer mindless anger that she was carrying around with her before she drew in a deep breath and subdued it all, clenching her jaw tightly until the emotions faded away into nothing.

"Come with me." She bit out, getting to her feet. "There's something I've been meaning to do."

Today's door was towards the rear of the warehouse, plain wood with no obvious features, aside from the small timer, like the one you found in kitchens, sunk into the wood. Hermione rested her hand on it with a sigh but didn't do anything else. Gabriel could detect a faint buzz coming from the timer, although it didn't tick or move.

"What's that do?" He demanded when nothing became immediately obvious.

Hermione gave him a sharp look but answered anyway.

"This...It holds the door in a particular spatial moment. Instead of the door progressing through linear time in the universe," She glanced at the plaque. "36192, the door is held fixed where I trapped it. It stops schedule conflicts from occurring and I don't miss the turning point." She breathed out heavily. "Or that's what the intention is. Mostly I use it to hold doors until I can catch up on sleep or to hold the ones I don't want to deal with."

"How come you don't want to deal with this one?"

Hermione pursed her lips, her eyes looking suspiciously watery.

"It's..." She let out a shuddery breath before twisting the timer resolutely. It disengaged from the door with a squelch and the buzzing stopped. One of the endless streams of invisible magic jilted into action and the door seems to solidify slightly. "Complicated."

Gabriel looked from her to the door to another universe and then back again.

"Tell me about it, sister."

She unlocked the door, the universe connected to the warehouse properly and they stepped through into a rainy London, where raindrops like bullets fell from the grey, forbidding sky.

"Appropriate." Hermione murmured, scowling. She waited for Gabriel to orientate himself.

There were no angels here, but this world wasn't completely mundane either. Something old and powerful tickled at the edges of his senses, something wild in a way the Host never was. He was jerked out of his thoughts when a slim hand wrapped around his, twining their fingers together.

"California, please." She announced, hair frizzing in the rain.

Gabriel looked at her doubtfully.

"Do I look like a taxi service?" He complained, stretching his wings out. His third left ached slightly. "Is California still in the same place?" He added only mostly joking. One of the files he'd sneaked a peek at contained a universe where the continents had never drifted apart from Pangea.

Hermione sighed heavily as though Gabriel's presence was the greatest burden that she'd ever had to bear.

" _Yes_." She hissed. "Now go. We're on a schedule."

"All right, all right..." He rolled his eyes and flapp...soared...He couldn't think of a word which didn't make him sound like a parrot. Whatever. They flew.

* * *

Hermione directed him to a small town, far from the ocean and mostly surrounded by forest. Something deep under the ground pulsed when they landed, a wash of quiet and slightly malevolent power breaking over them.

"What the..."

"Not important." Hermione ground out. Still holding his hand she began pulling him through the streets, towards the hustle and bustle of the local hospital. They stepped into the busy reception area and both of them wrinkled their noses. Gabriel frowned down at her as they bypassed the welcome desk and headed for the nearest sign post.

"Do your people have hospitals?"

Hermione sent him a confused look.

"Of course we do."

They dodged a pale, sweaty man being led by a rather nervous looking nurse before ducking around a cue of people waiting to be treated.

"Did they look like this?"

Hermione frowned as she looked over the sign post attached to the wall, but she paused long enough to send him a nervous look out of the corner of her eye.

"Some of them did. Can you see ICU anywhere?"

Gabriel pointed to the small sign saying "Intensive Care Unit" and they followed it down the hallway.

"What do you mean "Some of them"?"

Hermione paused and grimaced.

"My world," She murmured as they entered the stairwell, "You have to understand. It wasn't this magical universe where we had magic instead of science. Only some of us had magic. I thought I was an...abnormality growing up, I didn't realise what I was until I was eleven. My parents...they were normal. They went to hospitals like this. After I turned eleven...I never did."

Gabriel pulled her to a stop, searching her expression for what she wasn't telling him. Hermione twitched as though she wanted to pull away, but stayed and let him look. Her thoughts were sealed tight, only her emotions showing in her aura. Fear and worry.

"Talk," Gabriel demanded seriously.

She bared her teeth, grimacing.

"My people were hidden!" She complained, before glancing around and lowering her voice. "We had to be. If normal people had known we existed...I'd have been burnt at the stake!"

"Really?"

She waved that aside carelessly.

"It's possible." She acknowledged.

Gabriel stared at her in dread. She'd told him that he wouldn't want to know what she was, but Gabriel had never been very good at unsolved questions.

"What are you?" He growled and instead of crumbling, she stiffened, straightening her spine.

"You have to know," She snapped. "If you're really going to stay. My people practised magic, it was in our blood, in our heritage...I'm a witch, Gabriel." The Archangel froze, staring at her. She met his gaze unflinchingly, burning with a quiet fury. "And I always will be." Hermione twisted out of his hold, stepping backwards through the double doors which led to the Intensive Care Unit.

Gabriel fled.

* * *

He went back to the warehouse, flitting silently through the door and standing perfectly still in front of her desk.

A witch.

A fuckin' freakin' witch.

Very slowly, one of Gabriel's fists clenched.

Witches...witches were lower than demons. They were the whores of the Devil, giving away pieces of their soul in exchange for paltry power and parlour tricks. And the fact that she had tricked  _him_ , into thinking she was good, that she was his friend?

He would burn her out of existence for even daring to be in the same room as an Archangel. She was beneath him...

A slow, careful breath was released from Gabriel's lungs and his anger dropped to a low simmer.

That was Michael talking, not him. That was the huge pile of crap his big brothers had left sitting on his shoulders.

His angel blade dropped into his hand and he closed his fingers around the cool metal as the anger boiled up again.

Let's see how well she could Watch when she didn't have any eyes.

* * *

Hermione stepped back through the doorway, smelling strongly of salt, disinfectant and sorrow. She tapped the door with her stick, locking it in the same post shift ritual she always used. Nothing about her seemed wary or afraid and Gabriel just wanted to laugh at how arrogant she was. Did she really think that whatever power she had bartered to get would be enough to protect her from him?

He was an Archangel and his wrath  _would_  be recognised.

Meters of golden feathers snapped into existence above him as Gabriel's wings lifted high in what was, to any Seraph, akin to a death sentence. Hermione turned at the sound, stick lifting as she moved, only for Gabriel to knock the piece of wood out of her hand. It hit the floor with a clatter and rolled away across the concrete. The Witch darted to the side, magic rising around her and Gabriel caught her roughly, fingers closing about her neck as he hoisted her up off the ground, slamming her against the doorway. Her feet kicked out at his knees, delivering a brief but sharp pain, which Gabriel ignored, grace itching with the urge to burn her soul out of her body.

"You're a witch!" He roared.

Hermione, despite the disturbing shade of purple her face was going, didn't back down. Both hands shoved at his chest with enough power behind the movement that Gabriel was actually forced to drop her. She sucked in the air as fast as she could before moving to summon the stick. Gabriel's grace snapped out and held her immobile, feet inches off the floor.

Hermione coughed, glowering at him.

"So?" She snapped. "What is it about that that makes you so fucking vengeful?"

"You sold your soul to my brother!" He bellowed, wings crackling with grace. "Your soul."  _My_ soul! He turned away from her, his grace ruthlessly beating back the tendrils of magic which tried to escape.

Hermione let out a raw, unconstrained shriek of fury which, had he been human, would have burst both eardrums.

"Believe me," She sobbed. "If my world had a Lucifer I would have sold my soul a thousand times over and felt no regret to get what I want back. But there  _isn't_  so I  _can't_." Gabriel could hear her crying, wet tears spattering against the concrete. "So just look at me, Gabriel!" He paused. "Look at me!"

Steeling himself, Gabriel turned. Hermione hung there, aura prickling with constrained magic, sorrow and the utter fury that she was doing nothing to hide.

"I'm looking," Gabriel growled.

Hermione hiccuped out a bitter laugh.

"No," She spat, "You're not. Not really.  _Look at me,_ Gabriel! I didn't sell my soul for magic, magic  _is_  my soul."

Gabriel looked. Honest to the host looked.

When he'd first met her he'd seen a whole soul and assumed it was untainted by his brother. Now he could look properly he realised...that wasn't entirely true. Her soul was chipped and cracked in places from deep psychological wounds, some still fresh and some very old, that had left their mark. The kindness and compassion, rage and sorrow which usually made up her base emotions, were out of balance and her magic...

Hermione dropped to the floor in a heap as his grace snapped back towards him as though stung. There were bruises forming around her neck and Gabriel felt sick. Of course, she was human, of course, she was fragile and breakable... How could he...

"Hermione..." He begged but she got to her feet and staggered away from him, her stick flying straight into her hand. He didn't even flinch when she turned it on him. He was an Archangel...and she was his friend. His  _only_  friend. He should have known better. Whatever she did, he deserved it.

The stick didn't waver, but Hermione's voice did.

"The next time you do that..." she breathed, voice still thick with tears. "I'd rather you killed me."

She left quietly, leaving a frozen Archangel behind her.

Gabriel knew when she lied...and she hadn't.

* * *

It took a while for things to settle back to whatever passed for normal around in the warehouse. Gabriel had never felt guilt before. Not really. Guilt wasn't something he was equipped to feel. Regret, sure he'd felt that. Regret he'd never gotten in between his brothers, regret he hadn't protected the Seraphs, regret he hadn't been able to stop Sam. But guilt...

It seemed to gnaw away at his insides like some sort of flesh eating disease that he couldn't quite heal.

So Gabriel went back to basics. Angels were supposed to watch over the humans? That he could do.

He healed the bruises when she slept, as well as the persistent ache in her hands that Gabriel didn't think she was really old enough to have. And then he was stuck...Ideally, he'd heal her soul. That many cracks wasn't good...look at the Winchesters. Unfortunately souls really  _weren't_  his speciality. Strangely enough, that title belonged to Lucifer. His brother had been so fixated on the idea of destroying the humans that he'd spent years working out how the damn things worked. It was something to do with...Well, he hadn't been listening. Lucy had been kinda fanatical about the whole thing and Gabriel had had Seraphs to raise.

(And yes, Gabriel was willing to admit hard headedness was a family trait. Once they got an idea into their heads it took a metaphorical monkey wrench to the skull to set them straight again. Gabriel was just lucky he'd come to his senses before he'd killed her.)

But  _logically_ , he knew you fought sadness with happiness, sorrow with joy. So he just had to make her happy again and everything would be fixed. It took him two days to work this out and when he finally stirred Hermione had gone back to her paper work. And someone had glued his shoes to the floor.

Gabriel frowned as he padded around the warehouse in his socks. Concrete was cold, he decided. Humans didn't like being cold. It was why they did the whole fire and shelter shitck. Gabriel snapped his fingers and thick, gold carpet spread out across the floor, like high speed moss. Hermione gave a great sigh from behind him and took off her own shoes.

* * *

It turned out, after several days of Gabriel trying and failing to work out what his human needed, that all he'd had to do was bring her a cup of tea. Hermione had looked up and smiled gratefully, accepting the mug before going back to her work. Humans were weird.

Thirty seconds later she reached up and passed the memory of their last Shift to him and Gabriel realised they were good.

* * *

**Shift 36192-Granger**

The boy sobbed into her shoulder, large, silent tears soaking her jumper. Hermione rocked him with the ease born of...well Gabriel couldn't tell if that was instinct or practise, and stroked his hair, whispering to him.

"It's all right little one. It's okay." She murmured, knowing full well that it was the tone that was important not the words. Besides, it  _wasn't_  all right. It wouldn't be all right for a long time.

His heart was broken, his mother having been taken from him far too early and far too slowly. Gabriel couldn't decide if losing her and knowing it was coming was better or worse than losing her without warning. His father was...unable of dealing with his heart broken son, too busy grieving the loss of his soul mate as well as being expected to take care of important matters, like hospital fees and funeral arrangements. No one had questioned the well meaning woman who'd muttered something about being a godmother and had taken the boy aside.

"She's gone." The boy sobbed, followed closely by, "I'm sorry, mama. I'm so so sorry!"

Hermione lifted him easily, resting him on her hip as the boy continued to cry. She smiled at a harassed looking nurse she passed and headed for the small community garden just outside the main entrance. The boy didn't even notice they were moving. Hermione settled onto a bench nestled between two trees and set the boy in her lap. It took time for his tears to dry and Hermione pulled a juice box out of her pocket and, after sticking the straw in, passed it to him.

"Here you go," She murmured and the boy, face tear streaked and red, sniffled, taking the box. His hair was long-ish, hanging slightly unevenly around his head, and Gabriel couldn't help but wonder if anyone had remember to take him to get his hair cut recently.

"It's my fault."

Hermione jerked suddenly, going very pale. She shifted slightly so she could look into the boy's eyes.

"No!" She said fiercely. "No. Never, ever is this your fault, Iskra. Do you understand me?"

"But..." His lip trembled as the empty box fell forgotten to the floor. "They told me not to tire her out, but I just wanted to show her my pictures and then she fell asleep and...she wouldn't wake up!"

"Ack, darling." Hermione whispered. She brushed the tears from his cheek. "No. This wasn't because of you. Your mum...she was leaving anyway. You didn't do this. Do you understand?"

Iskra shook.

"But..."

"But nothing. You know, I bet she was so happy to see you. Wasn't she happy?"

He nodded, still crying.

"And she was so proud of you. You were her favourite person."

"It was stupid!" The boy cried. "Stupid pictures and if I hadn't..."

"What did you draw, sweetheart?" Hermione asked abruptly and the boy paused.

"Mama and dad. And the house...an' the trees."

"And what did she say?" Hermione pressed.

"She said..." he hiccuped. "They were good. She liked them."

"See. It wasn't stupid." She gathered him close again, smoothing her hands over his hair. "Not a single moment of it was stupid."

"Who're..."

Hermione sighed heavily.

"I'm Hermione. I'm your fairy godmother, sweetheart. I'm taking care of you for a bit."

"Where's dad?"

"He's...looking after things. He'll be here in a bit. Is that okay?"

The boy nodded solemnly.

"I want my mom." He whispered.

"I know, sweetheart. I know."

"She's gone."

"Not really." Hermione hummed for a moment, a fragment of a lullaby. "Not as long as you remember. The people we lose are never really gone as long as we remember them."

They stayed like that for a long moment, Hermione humming quietly to the child as he lost himself in grief. In the woods just beyond the garden, something shifted and Hermione looked up and met glowing eyes unflinchingly. The thing with red eyes seemed to nod to itself before stepping quietly away.

"Listen to me, little one." Hermione breathed, taking her gaze away from the woods and shifting him so she could meet his eyes again. "You are special, so unbelievably special."

"Why did she leave?" He asked again, in a sleepy murmur.

"She didn't want to." Hermione assured him. "Believe me on that, she never ever wanted to leave you. You meant everything to her."

"One day," She told him as he clung to her, half asleep, "You will meet someone. He'll be big and scary but he'd going to need someone like you to show him how bright the world really is. You're going to need to be strong and stubborn and oh, so brave little one. But I promise you, in the end, it'll be worth it. He will make you so happy."

In the distance the boy's father was calling out for him and Hermione set the child on the ground.

"It'll be okay, Iskra. I promise."

* * *

Gabriel pulled himself out of the memory.

"What's going to happen to him?" he asked, curious.

Hermione sighed, looking sad.

"If it goes right?" She murmured, "Everything."

Gabriel gave in.

"Mimi," He murmured. "Why don't you go home?"

She stilled before staring at him, brown eyes unusually dull.

"The door's broken." She murmured at last. "The connection's gone. I can't get back." She shrugged. "So I might as well do my job whilst I'm here."

"Liar." Gabriel rebuked softly.

Hermione gave him a faint smile and didn't say anything else.

* * *

Gabriel glared at the blue door. It was embossed with a bronze wolf, head tilted back, howling; but otherwise was completely plain.

This was the door to where  _he_  lived.

Gabriel didn't share well and the idea that there was someone  _else_  lurking around  _his_  human's head seriously pissed him off.

_Bang_

Oh, and there was someone knocking on the door.

"Get that would you?" Hermione called across the warehouse.

Summoning his angel blade, he unlocked the door and swung it open.

The young man in the suit on the other side looked surprised to see him, but got over it incredibly quickly and didn't even give the blade a second glance.

"Sir," He greeted formally, before stooping to pick up the shopping bags piled around his feet. He stepped past the astonished Archangel and into the warehouse, calling "Get the rest would you?" over his shoulder.

Utterly confused, Gabriel snapped his fingers (because he didn't carry things, thank you very much) and closed the door as the man carried his load to the space Hermione used as a kitchen.

"Who is this?" Gabriel demanded, as Hermione wandered over.

"Ianto Jones." The witch chirped, looking unusually happy. "Prompt as always." She grinned at Gabriel. "You can set your calendar by him."

The Archangel flicked a glance at the calendar pinned to a cabinet and realised she probably did.

"Is this your guest then, ma'am?" The man asked politely, looking Gabriel over with a steely eyed glare.

"He was." Hermione frowned slightly, although Gabriel could see the mischief lingering in her eyes. "He won't leave and has decided he works here." She dropped her voice to a whisper. "Don't believe anything he says. Completely delusional that one."

Ianto pursed his lips and nodded, whilst Gabriel stared at her stunned.

"Of course, ma'am."

"How's work going?"

Ianto shrugged.

"Had a bit of a scare last week. Almost missed a ghost shift. Not that I know much about it."

Hermione seemed to pause for a moment before smiling brightly.

"Well, I'm sure it'll work itself out. How much do I owe you?" She asked, digging in her pocket.

"The usual."

She nodded and handed over her money. Gabriel wondered idly how mad she'd be if he manifested his wings in front of this guy.

* * *

"So what's the sitch?" Gabriel asked and Hermione grimaced at the question. Although that might have been because he'd been quoting cartoons again. "Because that guy's destiny ain't to bring you your groceries every two months."

"It's complicated." Hermione murmured, locking the door with her wand. It was a wand apparently, not a stick. She'd eventually snapped and corrected him. "His universe has a Time goddess. And the problem with Time goddesses is that they tend to be..." She waved her hand as she searched for the word. "Omnipotent."

Gabriel arched an eyebrow.

"Like how?" He demanded.

"She, the Bad Wolf, she can tell when I'm going to tweak things and she," Hermione gritted her teeth. "She  _locks_  the door!" She yelled, outraged.

Gabriel started to laugh, peaked at her aura and thought better of it.

"So she won't let you in?"

"No! And I'm only trying to help!" Hermione added indignantly. "And you know what the really annoying thing is? She only existed for about ten minutes. She created herself, worked out all the places that needed tweaking, all the changes which had to happen to keep the time line on the optimum track and then ensured she existed in all the necessary moments before un-creating herself." She gave an aggressive sigh. "It's infuriating."

"So why do we have the door? Why not close it?"

Hermione frowned.

"The thing about Time goddesses...the  _other_  thing about Time goddesses, is that they're not really interested in details. Yes everything turns out all right in the end but a lot of pieces," She paused and Gabriel watched as shame rolled over her for some reason he didn't understand. "A lot of  _people_ ," she corrected, "Get hurt along the way. She's a bit...raw if you ask me. I do my best to...fix what I can. Sometimes," She murmured. "I wonder if I'm not one of  _her_  pieces and she just manipulates me the way she wants."

She stared at the wall blankly.

"And Ianto?" Gabriel interrupted. If he let her keep staring she'd forget what they were talking about. That happened a lot. "Free Radical?"

Hermione winced.

"Well, no. He's not actually. His boyfriend is. Or his boyfriend will be. He's the...free radical to a free radical. His memory will steer Jack's decisions and shape his incredibly long life. Jack's one of the Wolf's radicals. I try to stay away from him."

"And  _him_?" Gabriel growled, his wings flexing behind him.

Hermione gave him a bemused look.

"He's lonely." She said simply. "Do you want to see?" She added and he nodded.

**Shift 44453- Granger**

_The mug she handed to the tall stranger was dark purple and embossed with "MoM" on one side. He took it reflexively, curling long fingers around its warmth. They were sitting on the familiar curb outside the doorway, alone in the London night._

" _It's not good for you to be alone." She told him gently._

_The stranger snorted._

" _I could be alone in a room full of people." He complained. "I'm more alone than you can ever imagine."_

" _If you say so." Hermione pursed her lips and blew on her tea._

" _My home planet was destroyed." Dark eyes glared at her, something dangerous hiding behind the blue irises. "I destroyed it!"_

_Hermione merely nodded as though she had already known this._

" _The last great Time War." She murmured, ignoring his shocked expression. "I know how that feels." She told him matter of factly. "I lost my family, my world, my universe. Everything I have left is around me here."  
_

_"But you're human?"_

_She chuckled._

" _Not quite." The man openly stared at her, before scanning her._

" _Well that's…" His face twisted, large ears rising slightly. "Weird." He complained._

" _Your people were touch telepaths, weren't they?" Hermione asked carefully._

" _How do you know that?" The man demanded suspiciously.  
_

_"It's in the file." She said breezily. "Mine weren't but we could replicate when necessary."_

" _No, you couldn't. You're not advanced enough."  
_

_"Rude." She murmured and he grinned bitterly. "Think about it at least. I think it's the least I could do."_

_..._

" _You could come with me," He offered nervously, hands shoved deep in his leather jacket's pockets. "If you like?"_

_Hermione smiled at him quietly._

" _Now you know I can't do that." She murmured. "I have universes to look after." She was standing in the doorway of the warehouse, looking younger in a way_ _Gabriel couldn't quite quantify._

_He nodded.  
_

_"Ah, yes. The Witch in her warehouse, managing the cosmos."_

" _Better than a madman in a box messing it up. Travel safe." She wished. "Don't travel alone and come for dinner some time." Her smile turned slightly sad. "I could do with the company."_

"Does he come visit?" Gabriel demanded, cross.

Hermione gave him a sad, slightly watery smile.

"Occasionally. He doesn't really do domestic."

"Hmm." Gabriel reached for her quill with a frown. "Is this one of my feathers?" He demanded, twirling the golden feather between his fingers and splattering both of them with droplets of ink.

Surprisingly, she pursed her lips, eyes brimming with laughter.

"Yes, it is."

"You're using one of  _my_  feathers as a writing implement!" He hissed, pretending to be offended.

"Well it was lying around!" Hermione smiled at him. "Waste not, want not and all that!"

Carefully, Gabriel set down the homemade quill on her desk, all the while eyeing her strangely.

"I demand compensation!" He declared, seizing her hand.

"Oh, really?" Hermione let him pull her towards the sofa. "And in what form is this compensation to take place? You've eaten all the ice cream."

Gabriel pouted at her and snapped a bowl of popcorn into existence. Hermione frowned at him looking confused.

"Movie night!" He cried, happily.

The witch raised one eyebrow.

"Gabe we don't have a TV." She said patiently.

Gabriel rolled his eyes. Humans. No imagination.

"I'm an Archangel, baby." He snapped his fingers. "Get the lights would you?"

"I've got work..."

"No, you don't." The insane woman was three weeks ahead of schedule. Seriously, did she think he was an idiot?

"But..."

"Lights, Mimi."

Hermione huffed out a quiet laugh before she summoned her wand.

"Very well.  _Knox_."

* * *

**Shift 36192.2- Granger/Gabriel**

"He's an idiot, quite frankly." Hermione tapped her fingers on the rim of her coffee cup as they watched the teenager chase his sisters around the local park. Gabriel just laughed. "You think I'm kidding. Unfortunately, things are going to get a little tragic for him in about..." She pursed her lips. "A week."

Gabriel, who'd actually read some of the file this time, glared at her.

"A little tragic? Mimi, his house is going to burn down!  _With his family inside_!"

She rolled her eyes.

"Okay, a lot tragic."

Gabriel frowned at her.

"Sometimes I think being on your own has really messed you up."

Hermione glared at him pointedly.

"I'm sorry, which one of us decided to become a god of mischief?"

The Archangel pouted.

"I'm just saying, you could be a little bit more sympathetic." He whined.

Hermione's glare warped into a glower.

"Okay. Say I was a lot more sympathetic. I can't change anything. Not yet. Well I could. I could send Iskra in, save the whole family. He'd die in the process, of course. Nothing I can do about that." Her eyes were cold and unforgiving, reminding him horribly of Michael. " _Or_ I could let things unfold as they should. They all die and he and his sister leave. And then  _she_  dies, horrible, I know. And then  _a lot_  of other people die," Gabriel clenched his jaw. "And then...after a lot of death, he starts to get things right. He admits what he's been ignoring for years, my Iskra is happy and safe and loved. But here's the important thing. The hundreds, and it is  _hundreds_  Gabe, of people that they save, the family and pack that they build...none of that is possible without the tragedy."

"I hate you sometimes." Gabriel murmured, sipping at his (mostly sugar) drink.

Hermione sighed, watching the teenager.

"I know."

* * *

**Shift 91125- Granger/Gabriel**

"One pina colada and a half pint of cider." Hermione ordered. The barman took a long look at the pair of them before nodding and handing over the drinks. They paid before turning to survey the pub. It was bustling, busy with the sort of tired men and women who came out to drink heavily on a Wednesday, the radio only just loud enough to cover the long lilt of Irish accents. Gabriel stirred his drink with its decorative umbrella before using it to point to a patron. The young journalist was sitting alone at a table, staring down at today's paper through the bottom of his beer glass. His suit was cheap and fit badly and his hair stuck up at odd angles from where he'd been running his fingers through it.

"So, him?"

"Yep." Hermione chewed on her lip. "Are you sure you can..."

Not for the first time Gabriel rolled his eyes.

"YES! I can do this."

Hermione held up her hand in surrender, the other holding tight to her drink.

"All right. Fine. You know what you've got to do?"

"Yep." He bounced on his toes, expending a small amount of grace to stop his drink spilling.

"Off you go then." Hermione leaned against the bar and Gabriel bounded away, almost throwing himself into the chair opposite the depressed writer.

"Hi!" He grinned.

"G'way." The Irishman mumbled into his drink.

Gabriel ignored that, carefully yanking the papers out from under the man's elbow, which slipped and caused the man's head to knock against the table.

"OW!" He complained, lifting his head to glare blearily at Gabriel, who was busy scanning the paper.

"What the news ever do to you?"

The drunk man scowled.

"I write obituaries!" He spat, eyes unfocused.

"So? Gotta start somewhere." Gabriel sipped at his drink as the man sigh sorrowfully.

"I was going to be a novelist. One of the greats with my readers hooked on my stories. Instead..."

"Have you ever thought about horror writing?" Gabriel interrupted.

The man glared at him.

"No one wants to read that."

"Wants to? Nah, not really. People do it anyway." Gabriel grinned showing all of his teeth. The man shivered. "Have you ever considered caterpillars as a theme?"

* * *

**Shift 36192.3- Granger/Gabriel**

They stood in the darkness watching the house burn. Hermione had insisted on coming, making sure that only those who were meant to survive did. Hermione looked...cold mostly. She stared resolutely into the flames without flinching. He wondered if her lesser hearing could pick up on the screaming.

Gabriel wrapped one wing around her shoulder and she sighed heavily. He listened to the sound of fire engines approaching, far, far too late and wondered when he'd started to care.

* * *

**Shift 33795- Granger**

"Have you ever considered doing something other than medicine?" Hermione asked blandly, letting the intern stitch up her arm. The other woman gave her a smile, her red hair neat despite the dark bruises under her eyes.

"Maybe. I don't know. My dad was in the forces, kinda always wanted to follow him."

Hermione grimaced as she tied off another stitch.

"The problem with the armed forces, is you spend rather more time arming than you do helping. And that's why you became a doctor wasn't it? To help people?"

The intern shrugged.

"I suppose so."

"You know who I think could use someone like you?" Hermione added, apparently as an after thought.

"Who?"

"The FBI. I reckon you'd see all sorts of things there. Never a boring moment."

The intern laughed.

"Yeah? And what would I do in the FBI?"

Hermione reached for her wand.

"Look for the truth." She tapped the neat row of stitches, which unravelled into a pile of black thread. The intern stumbled backwards and Hermione healed the wound, leaving it without a scar. "There's more to the world than what you know, Dana. Think about that."

The intern stared at her, terrified and Hermione vanished.

* * *

**Shift 87526- Gabriel**

Gabriel sent the drug dealer to sleep before the man even realised he was there. The air stank, putrid and tinged with smoke and chemicals. People lay strew across the floor, lost inside their own heads. Some giggled brokenly, others cried silent tears. Many simply lay there, staring at nothing.

"Humans." Gabriel sighed, stepping through the mess, occasionally stopping to look at people. He found the guy he was looking for, curled under a thin blanket in the corner. He was filthy, curly hair greasy and matted in places, bright eyes dull with drugs. He frowned at Gabriel, his gaze barely focused.

"You're not the usual lady." He complained.

Gabriel crouched down and rested a hand on the man's shoulder. He was severely underweight, dehydrated and, ultimately, dying. There was a badly healed gash on his leg which had become severely infected and his heart rate was sluggish.

"Yeah, well she's busy."

The man sighed.

"You a guardian angel too?" He asked, looking sceptical.

Gabriel paused and made a point to bring that one up with Hermione later.

"Sure buddy." He murmured hoisting the man into his arms. "I'm an angel."

By they time they landed in front of the large manor, he'd healed the physical injuries but not the addiction. Hermione had told him not to bother.

"End of the line." He said cheerfully, propping the man against the large door. "Listen..." He snapped his fingers a few times to get the man to focus on him. "Listen! I've got a message. Hermione says this is the last time. Next time you're on your own."

The man, high as he was, scowled.

"Typical." He muttered bitterly.

Gabriel rolled his eyes and left.

* * *

**Shift 36192.4- Granger/Gabriel**

"We spend too much time in this Universe." Gabriel complained.

Hermione shot him an annoyed glance.

"This one has to go right." She snapped. "Now, shush. He's coming."

The boy was about eleven now, scrawny with doe eyes that seemed too big for his face and slightly hunched shoulders, ending in hands that never stopped moving. He caught sight of them about halfway down the street, a brilliant smile spreading across his face.

"Aunt 'Mione!" He yelled as he raced towards them. Several passers-by looked over in amusement as Hermione obligingly held out her arms. The boy ran straight into them.

"Hello, little one!" She smiled, ruffling his short hair. Gabriel grinned, amused despite his irritation. "How are you?"

"I'm good." The boy stepped backwards and frowned at Gabriel. "Who's that?"

"That's Gabriel. He's my friend."

"Hey kiddo."

The boy eyed the angel suspiciously before launching into a long and rambling explanation about what he'd been up to recently which somehow warped into an in-depth rant about puffer fish. Hermione laughed, eyes sparkling as she easily kept up with the conversation and for a moment, Gabriel wondered if this is what her children would be like. Bright and hyper and full of life and mischief.

* * *

"What exactly is the turning point here?" Gabriel asked, swinging his legs off the beam.

Far below him, Hermione stilled, hand reaching for a folder.

"Beg pardon?" She murmured, only just loud enough for him to hear.

"Wolf boy. What's the turning point?"

Hermione went back to scratching out equations and Gabriel scowled.

"Don't ignore me." He warned, dropping silently from the beam to land silently at her side. Hermione flinched slightly.

"Turning point, Mimi. What is it?"

"The fire." She breathed and Gabriel froze.

"Wait, not the fire we went to like...ages ago?"

Hermione's jaw clenched but she didn't say anything whilst Gabriel just gaped at her.

"Seriously?" He yelled. "Why're we still meddling around in it?" He paused. "It's the kid isn't it? That's what's different!"

"Gabriel..." Hermione pleaded.

"No! You know, you're such a hypocrite." Gabriel spat, angry now. "Just like my brothers. Usually its all for the greater good," She winced at that. "You think you can just mess around with the universe like it's some freakin' puppet for you to play with!"

"You think I like this?" Hermione snapped, finally turning to him. Her eyes were blazing. "You think  _this_  is what I wanted to do with my life? Yes, Gabriel. I get selfish, I get indulgent. So what? Believe me on this," She roared, getting to her feet. "I  _deserve_  to!"

"Why do you work here?" Gabriel demanded wildly.

Hermione blinked, startled by the rapid subject change.

"Come again?" She asked, frowning.

"Why. Do. You. Work. Here?" He sounded out carefully.

Hermione started laughing which made Gabriel squint at her.

"You remember," She wheezed. "When I told you there were budget cuts and that's why I was working here alone?"

"Yeah?"

"Not entirely a lie." Hermione leaned back against her desk. "The Ministry was making cuts left, right and centre. Some things couldn't be cut, Auror Squad for example and no one wanted to be responsible for taking money away from "Magical Games and Sports". We'd have had a riot on our hands. I was quite senior in the Ministry at the time and the Minister came up with a bright idea of shutting down the more...unnecessary parts of the Department of Mysteries." She chuckled. "Back then there were almost fifteen people working in this building alone. Unfortunately not even he knew how the Warehouse actually worked, so he assigned me as a spy. The Department of Mysteries had been trying to get my attention for years, so they didn't even question my presence. They were just thrilled to have the  _great Hermione Granger_  as an Unspeakable." She sighed bitterly. "I spent my time working here trying to work out how to safely disable the warehouse and get the damn thing shut down without ripping a hole in the universe."

"Why you?" Gabriel perched on a cabinet and stared at her. "You're just a human."

That made her smile.

"Back home I was something of...a hero, I suppose. Not through choice, mind you. I just had a reputation for being rather brilliant." Gabriel frowned. He could have told her that.  _Had_ he told her that?

"So of course when..." She swallowed. "I just happened to be the one on duty and I was trapped on the wrong side. I figured I might as well work whilst I was here."

"Why that one?" Gabriel asked seriously enough to catch her attention. Hermione was lost in thought, staring at the floor with a worrying amount of seriousness consideration.

"What?" She murmured, distracted. Her voice echoed around them, bouncing off the walls.

Suddenly Gabriel yearned to make some noise, something, anything which would fill up the empty spaces around them. The door to his universe was closed at the moment and the silence was being to unsettle him.

"That universe. Why does it  _have_  to go right for that one?"

Hermione flinched and rubbed at her eyes as the very faint scent of salt met Gabriel nose.

"He..." She swallowed, voice thick and the Archangel stared at her horrified. "He reminds me of Hugo." Hermione swiped at the tears slipping down her cheeks and pressed her lips into a fine, grief stricken line. "My son."

* * *

"I lost them." She breathed.

Gabriel waited as patiently as he could, wings wrapped closely around her shoulders.

"Do you know what the last thing I said to them was?" She pressed her hand to his forehead without waiting for his answer.

_She was rushing, in a hurry to get out the door on time. Two children were sitting at the table, spooning cereal into their mouths._

" _Where on earth is your father?" She snapped, shoving another roll of parchment into her bag. The eldest child, a girl with red hair but her mother's deep brown eyes and curls, looked up and grinned._

" _Still in the shower."_

_The two met each other's eyes and Hermione crossed over to the kitchen sink, slipping on her shoes as she went. The house appeared to be in some form of organised chaos, a clearly advanced organisational system warring against ridiculous clutter. Hermione slammed on the hot tap on full, counting under her breath._

" _Three….Two….One…."_

_Upstairs a man shrieked as he was doused in presumably cold water._

_The children laughed._

" _That'll teach him to turn off the alarm." She teased, only mostly joking. She dropped a kiss on each of her children's heads and headed for the front door. "Behave for your grandmother," she warned, pulling on her coat, turning to her son, a dark haired boy who was laughing into his breakfast. "Hugo, do not listen to your Uncle George, he's lying, Rose, sweetheart don't forget you've got a Judo class this afternoon. I'll pick you up from your grandmother's at six," She opened the front door, pausing to yell over her shoulder. "And do tell your father to hurry up. He's going to be late!"_

Gabriel stared at her and she looked back, eyes dull and red, hand falling back to her side.

"Hindsight's a funny thing, isn't it?" She murmured.

"How old were they?"

"Rose had just turned ten. Hugo was still seven. They were brilliant." She said in a rush, tears falling unheeded from her eyes. "Bright and wonderful and everything I could ever want in children." Gabriel had always wondered what utter sorrow sounded like. It sounded like a distraught woman doing her best to remain detached. "I..." She took in a deep breath and held it for five long seconds before breathing out slowly. "It was my husbands turn to drop them off at Molly's. Poor woman ran childcare for the entire family. Molly was my mother-in-law," She explained, managing somehow to sound as though this had happened to another person. "And she had five children and between them they had twelve grandchildren. We all had to work, so Molly watched them all. She seemed to love having the house full." Hermione sighed, eyes fixed on a dent in a nearby cabinet.

"Why don't you try and fix the door?" Gabriel asked. "Go home?"

"It can't be fixed." She murmured and he scowled.

"Mimi, I'm an Archangel. I'll  _fly_ you there if I can't fix it!"

"It can't be fixed," Hermione hissed, her tight reign on her emotions slipping slightly. "Because there is nothing wrong with the door. The door works  _fine_!" She trembled next to him, fists clenched. Her shields were tightly closed, telling him nothing.

"Then..." Gabriel realised something and felt his spirits sink. "You're using the past tense." He breathed.

Hermione's body stiffened, lips white and trembling with the sheer force she was employing  _not_  to give in. Not to admit it. A low, quiet moan slipped out and Hermione's control shattered.

"I went to work that morning. I had a lone shift, everyone else was in the Department. I remember..." She choked for a second, teeth clenched before she forced herself to continue. "I remember the muggle newspapers saying that there was war coming. Some despot got his hands on something dangerous. I wasn't really paying attention. You spend your life thinking..." She shivered. "No one could actually be that stupid. No one could actually do that. You think there are limits to human idiocy. Anyway, I did a double shift, because no one came to relieve me and I didn't notice. To engrossed in trying to find a way to shut the damn place down, you know how I get." She bit her lip hard and Gabriel stared at her as she drew in a shaky breath. He healed the cut before it could even bleed. "Finally remembered to go home and...It was a wasteland. The door was still standing but London..." She shivered. "It was like  _hell_. The air was  _burnt_  and everything was covered in ash. I was so confused. I didn't understand what had happened. I apparated home, I'd hoped that the wards around my house had been enough to save..." Her fists were clenched tight against her thighs as her soul warped under her grief. "The wards are designed to keep out people or magic not  _heat or gas_  . _.._ There must have been strategic detonations. Power stations or something. I don't know." She swiped at her tears. "It wasn't...There was nothing left. I checked everywhere I could think of, the whole bloody country. No one. Nothing. Just the bodies." She took another deep breath, held it for a second and then let it go very slowly. "Course by that point I realised I was getting sick. Very sick, very fast. I made it back here and stumbled into the first Universe I could think of that was advanced enough to treat me." Hermione grimaced at him, face a mess. "Radiation poisoning, amongst other things. The detonations...they weren't clean. They mixed all kinds of filth in with them and it got into the air. Anyone who survived the blast would have been choked to death in the end."

Gabriel stared at her in shock.

"Why did you come back here?"

Hermione shrugged and slumped against him.

"It was all I had left." She whispered. "I wasn't...I wasn't in a very healthy state of mind. I lost.." She paused and shuddered. "Everything basically, so I just threw myself into my work. Into..." She cast a hand around herself, looking disgusted. "Into  _this_."

He took a deep breath into his lungs which he didn't really need, before reaching forward and pulling her into his lap, wrapping his wings tightly around her. Hermione sobbed, resting her head against his shoulder.

"How long..." He sighed into her hair. "How long have you been here, Mimi?"

He could feel her tears soaking into his shoulder, smell the salt on the air.

Hermione's voice was a hoarse whisper, wrecked by grief and anger.

"Fifteen years."

Gabriel closed his eyes as he tightened his hold on his shaking, sobbing human.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3
> 
> Hope you liked this. Kudos are much appreciated.


	4. Living

Gabriel grimaced.

It was back again.

That icky, black mass that was clogging up his human. No wonder she'd been so tired recently. The doctors probably had a word for whatever  _it_ was _,_  but Gabriel just knew it was wrong and he wanted it gone. He expelled a little grace to get rid of it, doing his best to repair the damage to the cells. There wasn't much he could do, but make sure he kept checking for it.

Long-term side effects of severe radiation poisoning weren't something he'd come across back home. Mostly because people usually died before they managed to live this long and his human had been riddled with it before he'd started healing her regularly.

On the sofa in front of him, Hermione sneezed in her sleep and rolled over.

* * *

"There are many things I am prepared to believe about you," Hermione responded imperiously, "But that you are solely responsible for the creation of the platypus is not one of them."

Gabriel pouted at her.

Hermione merely raised an eyebrow and looked unaffected. That wasn't new.

"So," She added, turning them back to the job at hand. "We have two options. Either we fiddle with the dorm system and have them room together, or'' She sipped at her tea and Gabriel reheated it absent-mindedly when she grimaced. ''We ensure they both have...What class was it again?''

''Spanish?'' Gabriel offered, flicking through their notes.

''That.''

''But they're best friends either way.'' Gabriel pointed out. ''They still end up starting their own practice. He still ends up as...''

''Yes, but they're not as close.'' She waved her mug to make a point. ''If they don't share a room, they don't grow so close...''

''They don't fall in love.'' He finished for her. Hermione scowled.

''Mmhmm.''

''Do they even get together?'' Gabriel asked.

''Eighty, twenty odds on that.'' She didn't even bother to check the equation.

''Are they happier?''

Hermione sighed.

''Yes...''

''What's the catch?'' There was always a catch. A higher body count, a significant death, a ricochet effect which seemed tiny but was actually huge.

Hermione unrolled the rest of the scroll covered in long rows of equations and pointed to a certain section with her teaspoon.

''Ah.''

Chances of death for the free radical and his best friend doubled. He scanned the equations for an alternative course of action.

He'd learned how to use the equations a while ago, mostly out of boredom. He loved learning new things, always had. When you had all of eternity to occupy yourself with you need a hobby and Gabriel had  _all_  the hobbies. He'd been almost humming with excitement when the humans had invented machines and electronics. He loved taking them apart, seeing how they worked and then putting them back together to do something they weren't supposed to. (Which was why the Warehouse's TV also made toast and their toaster dispensed coffee.)

''It's only a thirty percent increase,'' He murmured and Hermione sighed. ''And they  _are_  happier.''

''But what if they die?'' She scowled. ''He's an important turning point, one we can't bring back.''

''We can bring Matt back?'' Gabriel asked, confused.

''Ninjas.'' Hermione shrugged. ''But without the Radical he's a loose cannon. He has no guidance.''

Gabriel leaned back and folded his arms.

''What if we don't room them together? What then?''

Another section was tapped with the spoon and Gabriel scowled.

''Oh great. Misery.''

''Mmhmm. For them both.''

''So we make sure they don't die.'' He argued.

Hermione's eyes rolled magnificently.

''Oh, what the hell.'' She muttered. ''I'm feeling sentimental.''

After a moment Gabriel asked.

''When is this turning point anyway?''

''Three years ago.'' Hermione shrugged. ''It slipped under the sofa.''

* * *

**Shift 87526 - Granger/Gabriel**

''Are you going to ask me to spy on him too?'' The short man demanded, glowering at them. Well...at her.

Hermione smiled at him. It wasn't genuine but the man didn't need to know that.

''Does that happen to you a lot?'' She asked politely and the man sighed heavily.

''More than I'd like.''

''Hmm. Well no, Mr Watson, I'm not here for information.''

Watson's eyes narrow and he stared at them suspiciously.

''What? Why would you...?''

''How's London treating you?'' Hermione asked brightly. Gabriel laughed to himself from where he was standing invisibly over her shoulder.

''Uh...fine?''

''Not too much of a change?'' She added, glancing around the crowded café they'd cornered him in with a disinterested look. Hermione didn't care much for crowds. ''Must be awfully noisy.''

The man shrugged, slouching in his chair.

''It's interesting, I suppose. My flatmate keeps me busy.''

''I suppose he must. Mr Watson, I'll be frank with you...''

''Brilliant,'' Watson complained.

''I am not here about your partner, I am here about you.''

The man straightened.

''Is that a threat?''

Hermione blinked at him innocently.

''Of course not. Mr Watson, you find yourself in the unenviable position of being the sole caretaker for your...'' Her lips twisted into a smirk,  _''Flatmate.''_

Watson flushed.

''I'm not...''

''He will endeavour to take up all your time, call upon you at odd hours...'' She leaned forward across the table. ''In short, he is going to take over your life and you, Mr Watson, are going to let him.'' She gave him a cold smile. ''Why wouldn't you?''

Watson gaped at her.

''Now come on.'' He spluttered. ''I hardly know him...'' Blue eyes narrowed. ''Who are you?''

Hermione slid a white business card across the table. There wasn't much on it. Just their numbers in black ink. Hermione had vetoed the hot pink ones Gabriel had wanted.

''These are the numbers for myself and my associate Mr Gabriel. If you have any problems, I want you to call us.'' She got to her feet, tucking the chair neatly under the table. Watson caught at her wrist as she passed him.

''Who are you?'' He insisted. ''How do you know Sherlock?''

Hermione laughed quietly.

''We were his guardian angels.''

''Were?''

''Mm. Now, I believe, we're yours.''

* * *

''Are the bad-ass exit lines preplanned or just habit?'' Gabriel asked, canting his chair backwards.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

''Shut up, Gabe.''

* * *

**Shift 3694.55 - Gabriel**

Gabriel slipped unnoticed onto the plane, oxygen canisters clanking faintly in his arms.

There were times when Hermione stuck fast to the rules of the Warehouse, the rules that she had inherited and that had seen her through a significant portion of her life. They didn't meddle in the time line, they were there for the good of all, not the good of some.

And then there were times when Gabriel got a glimpse of someone who'd spent a good proportion of her life wanting to do the right thing. Wanting to save people. Someone who'd once been something like a Winchester.

Gabriel was far more inclined to listen to the second Hermione rather than the first.

This though...this wasn't about the good of anyone really, save for one man and his team. And he hadn't bothered to ask permission.

The plane was mostly empty, the people who occupied it current out running around trying to save the world. As you do.

He made his way to the medical pods and stacked as many oxygen tanks in each as he could reasonably hide. Some things they couldn't change. Betrayal would still happen here, hearts would break...yadda yadda all very sad. Some things, however, they could be changed. Some trauma shouldn't need to be lived through.

Hermione smiled at him approvingly when he stepped back into the Warehouse and he wondered what he'd have to do to actually surprise her.

* * *

It was a wasteland, Hermione hadn't been wrong about that. Metal was twisted into unrecognisable shapes, the doorway the only structure still standing. There was nothing but ruins, the skeletons of a once bustling city broken and raw.

He took to the skies.

There are...were sixteen nuclear sites in Britain, several petrochemical plants and the remnants of a once booming industrial trade. In America or Europe or basically, anywhere else on Earth, there was enough land mass that four strategic explosions would be survivable. From what Gabriel could tell Great Britain had burned in minutes. Some places...the islands around the top of Scotland and some pretty remote fens showed signs of regeneration, nature slowly pushing its way up through the ground. But the cities...Manchester, Glasgow, London...It was concrete and ash and nothing living in sight.

There were no people, that he was pretty sure of. Or at least none still alive. Fifteen years can do many things but no matter what, it's not enough time for the full decomposition of a human corpse. Anyone who wasn't a corpse was long gone.

That's not to say there weren't  _any_  humans. Across the globe, the human race lived on in small groups, tiny patches of resistance against unnatural weather and man made disasters. But not her family. Not anyone she knew.

He'd waited until she was asleep before going through the door. He hadn't wanted to give her false hope, hadn't wanted her to go through that grief again. He could go back, he supposed. Back in time and see how it was, how it should have been. But then he'd only feel guilty because no matter how happy she'd been, no matter how much she'd lost...these things happened for a reason. If the detonations didn't happen, she wouldn't stay in the Warehouse and he had no intention of giving her up.

Not now. Not when she was all he had left.

Gabriel scooped up one of the acorns in a forest which still showed signs of being fertile and tucked it in his pocket.

* * *

He planted the seed in a pot of earth, mostly for something to listen to. Hermione gave him a strange look but didn't point out that trees needed sunlight and space to grow. Gabriel was grateful. He didn't want to explain that he was feeding the damn thing his grace.

* * *

If the sapling became mildly sentient...well no one else had to know.

* * *

**Shift 36192 – Gabriel/Granger**

''Uncle Gabby?''

Gabriel opened one eye and glared at the kid. Iskra just grinned back.

''Did you know there's a bird called a ''blue footed booby'?'' The kid giggled as Gabriel sighed.

''Yep. Ain't you supposed to be meditating?''

Iskra squeezed his eyes shut. Gabriel sighed as he watched the kid's aura. It was bright and the colours shifted frequently enough for Gabriel to imagine he was getting a migraine. Not that he knew what one felt like, of course.

The real question was...Why the fuck had no one noticed this eleven-year-old was meeting a stranger in the local park?

The only person who _had_ noticed was Hermione who was glaring at everyone she could see whilst Gabriel tried to teach this kid some control. He was as bad as Samandriel as a fledgeling.

''Uncle Gabby?''

''Y'uh huh?''

''Why are we doing this?''

''We're trying to teach you to concentrate.'' Hermione broke in gently. ''It'll help you in school.''

''But I thought that there was something wrong with me?'' Iskra asked. One day Gabriel would ask what the kid's real name was, he swore he would.

''There is nothing wrong with you.'' Hermione insisted. She smiled at him. ''You're just wired a little differently. Now,'' She settled onto the grass next to them. ''Focus. Ground yourself.''

Gabriel watched with a small smile as, just for a second, Iskra's energies synced with the earth.

''Would you look at that?'' He murmured.

* * *

**Shift 36192 - Granger/Gabriel**

''His father's a drunk.'' Hermione snapped crossly.

Gabriel steered her around several innocent bystanders and further up the street.

''He needs to step up and start acting like a proper father, instead of burying himself in his work!'' She continued, gesticulating wildly. Gabriel tugged her out of the way of a rather startled looking dryad disguised as a barista and nodded. ''Do you know the Shift gets thirty percent easier if he just steps up and accepts his responsibilities?''

''Uh huh.''

''I just can't believe that...'' Hermione paused mid-rant and sighed. ''Except that, I can.'' She murmured. ''But his son should be prioritised over grief.''

''Do you actually want responses here?'' Gabriel asked, ''Or is this just one those days with you?''

''Hmm?'' She blinked at him. ''Oh, sorry. I'm just worried.''

Gabriel snorted.

''Is this the right house?'' She asked.

They peered up at the suburban house together before Gabriel nodded towards the patrol car parked in the driveway.

''Well yeah...'' They headed towards the door. ''Yeesh, I feel like a Winchester. This is what they do. Hey, you know they once tried to convince me they were repair guys? Morons. Like Sam would end up in a proper career that wasn't modelling.''

Unsurprisingly Hermione appeared to be ignoring him as she knocked on the door. Both of them fixed serious smiles on their faces as it opened. Hey, just cause Gabriel chose to be a  _bad_  actor didn't mean he was a bad  _actor_.

''Mr Stilinski?'' Hermione asked. Gabriel had had to tweak her accent slightly for this to be believable and the honeyed Southern drawl almost made him laugh. ''My name's Hermione Granger, this is my partner Gabriel Angelus. We're from Child Services. I'm afraid we've received a complaint.'' Her eyes narrowed into a steely glare. ''May we come in?''

* * *

Gabriel groaned, burying his head in the corner of the sofa.

"Shut up!" He begged, his grace pulsing.

Hermione, still dressed in her nightgown, sped quickly down an aisle, her bare feet whisking along the marble floor. A cool hand pressed against his shoulder, rubbing at the arch of his wing and the Archangel went limp.

"What's wrong?" She whispered, kneeling by the sofa.

Gabriel whined, lifting his head just enough to say,

"Prophet Alarm."

"What?" Hermione murmured.

Gabriel moaned as a damp cloth was pressed against his forehead and relinquished his hold on the sofa cushions, rolling over to stare up at her.

"Prophet of the Lord. They've got an alarm system in case they get attacked. Goes straight to Raph..." Gabriel jerked upright and the cloth fell into his lap. "It goes straight to Raphael." He whispered. He turned worried eyes on Hermione and she sighed, pushing his hair back from his face with her hand. There were freckles on her nose, he noted absently. "He's not...He can't be. Not Raph." Not his big brother. Sure, Raph was strict and scary but he'd always been  _there_.

"Who is the Prophet?" Hermione asked, and that forced him to concentrate. The next in line after Chuck Shirley, who'd always been a bit weird, was...

"Kevin Tran. He's a...a kid." Gabriel finished. His headache had died down now that he was paying attention to the source of it, but was still a constant throb against his temple. How did Raphael put up with this? Hermione didn't seem to mind when he rested his head against her shoulder, but he'd learned over the years that she was just as touch starved as he was.

"What do you want to do?" She asked quietly.

That was the other thing. Never orders...always questions.

Made him feel like he  _wasn't_  created a soldier.

"I can't go back."

Hermione sighed.

"What does it mean that the alarm went through to you?"

"There's no one else to take it." Gabriel murmured glumly.

"Could a Seraph help?" She murmured. "One of your brothers?"

"They're not equipped to protect a Prophet." Gabriel winced as the headache increased. "They're going to hurt him." He glanced up to find deep chocolate eyes staring down at him impassively.

"So?" She asked quietly.

Ah, crap.

"I don't want to do this." He told her, getting to his feet. Hermione pushed herself up, smiling at him.

"Call me if you need help." She paused for a moment. "And come back safe, all right?"

"Urgh, you're so bossy." Gabriel teased, heading for his doorway. "I'll be fine. I'm an Archangel, aren't I?"

She snorted and called after him,

"Believe me, I know!"

* * *

Kevin Tran, Prophet of the Lord.

Scrawny math geek really. Gabriel would have laughed if he wasn't so worried.

Kevin was being held by demons. Not just any demons...Crowley.

Gabriel, hovering...or existing was maybe a better word, just above the building, rolled his eyes. Right now the Demon King was monologuing to the terrified teenager, going on about Hell and deals and other bullshit.

The building was warded against angels but not Archangels. But then why would it be? As far as anyone knew, they were all dead. He'd tuned into Angel Radio as soon as he'd gotten through the door, expecting to hear the Angelic Chorus, singing in harmony. Usually a little baroque for his tastes but comforting none the less.

But there was just chaos.

Angels shrieked and quarrelled, the Chorus horribly discordant and out of synch. It made Gabriel feel sick.

So he shut them out like he'd been doing in the three years since Lucifer's fall and focused on the problem at hand. Crowley was leaving, for now, heading to his office leaving the Prophet alone with his hench-demons. Gabriel could  _feel_  the Prophet's fear from here, thick and acrid. It spiked and Gabriel made a decision.

Three pairs of wings rose behind him as Gabriel streaked from the sky like a comet, releasing the tight hold he'd held on his grace. This didn't call for finesse.

This called for a fucking  _entrance_!

The ceiling shattered as Gabriel shot through it, landing in a crouch in front of the tethered Prophet. The rent-a-demons backed up against the walls as Gabriel's sword dropped into his open hand.

"Guess who's back?" He taunted with a wicked smile, before burning the demons straight from their hosts. A snap of his fingers and the handcuffs fell away from the Prophet's wrists.

"Who are you?" Kevin gasped, eyes darting towards the door as he trembled.

Gabriel smirked.

"Name's Gabriel. I'm your guardian angel, kiddo."

Kevin swore.

It was adorable.

"Look, kid, there are demons a-coming. We need to get out of here..." His eyes strayed to the hunk of rock the kid was clutching like a lifeline. "What's that?" He asked slowly.

Kevin jumped, shoving the Word-of-God behind his back.

"Nothing!" He squeaked.

Gabriel cocked his head, listening to the sounds of demons drawing closer.

"Later, kid. We need to move."

"Are you with Sam and Dean?" Kevin blurted, yelping when Gabriel appeared by his side, one hand resting on his shoulders.

"Nah." Gabriel grinned. "I'm too cool for them."

* * *

He blew up the building.

Ostentatious?

Maybe.

An unnecessary show of force?

Definitely.

But when Gabriel made a point, he made one that wasn't forgotten easily.

* * *

Kevin threw himself away from him when they landed in front of the warehouse. The door was ajar and Gabriel pushed it open easily, hauling the Prophet inside and sealing the door behind them.

"You're Gabriel?" Kevin blurted as Gabriel sealed the door.

"Yep." The Archangel hung up his coat on the hook beside the door. "The Archangel."

"You're safe here," Hermione called from nearby, appearing silently from behind a cabinet, in jeans and a jumper. Her wand was tucked in her hair, but she looked friendly and welcoming, which was unusual and rather deceptive.

"Where are we?" The Prophet demanded.

Gabriel gave Hermione a shrug and she sighed.

"London. Are you all right?" She asked, stepping closer. Gabriel gave her a hug as he passed, heading for the kitchen. Hermione was better at placating than he was.

Kevin looked startled as he was gently pushed through the warehouse before being settled in one of the armchairs as Hermione did her "unstoppable force of nature" thing.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked again, kneeling by the armchair to examine Kevin's wrists. She tutted over the red and bruised skin. "We'd better get these healed. Any other injuries I should know about?"

The terrified Prophet shook his head silently and Hermione smiled at him kindly as Gabriel wandered back over.

"What were you doing with Crowley anyway?" He demanded.

"He needs healing," Hermione said pointedly and Gabriel dropped a hand onto the Prophet's shoulder for the brief second it took him to merge the skin together as though it had never been broken.

"Who're you?" Kevin asked, staring between the two of them.

"I'm Hermione. I work with Gabriel. Can you tell us what happened?"

Kevin wrapped both arms around his middle, large eyes staring at them suspiciously.

"Dick exploded." He mumbled and Gabriel began to shake with laughter.

"Not the answer I was expecting." He snickered.

Hermione smacked at his leg.

"Behave." She warned before turning back to Kevin. "Would you like to explain..?"

"Dick Roman. He was this weird...Leviathan?" Kevin offered and Gabriel froze. Hermione sighed heavily.

"Now you've done it." She muttered.

Kevin frowned.

"What? Is he mad at me?"

"At you?" She laughed. "No. But he may become very mad at me very shortly." She looked up at him. "Oh dear.'' She said dryly. ''That's the smiting face."

That brought Gabriel out of his reverie with a jerk.

"I'm a badass and you know it." He complained, pouting.

Hermione chuckled.

"And who the fuck let the Leviathans out?" He demanded, folding his arms.

"Castiel." Hermione sighed and Kevin jerked.

"You know Castiel?" He yelped.

"Baby bro set free the Leviathans?" Gabriel yelled.

Hermione rolled her eyes at both of them.

"Why don't we let Kevin explain and then I'll tell you the rest later?"

Something was rumbling, a low sub-vocal growl which echoed across the warehouse.

"Gabriel." Hermione sighed.

Oh. That was him. He coughed and the growling stopped.

"Right fine. What happened, short stack?"

Kevin, apparently recovering from his shock, gave Gabriel a pointed look at that but continued anyway.

"Sam and Dean wanted a way to stop the Leviathans so they did this raid on Dick Roman's company with Meg and Cas. And they stabbed Dick and he exploded and then Dean and Cas...just vanished and then Crowley kidnapped me and I don't know where Sam is or Meg and..."

"Whoah..." Hermione hushed. "It's okay. Just breathe." Kevin drew in a long breath and nodded. "Good. Gabriel," She warned, without looking up at him. "Calm down. You're scaring him."

This was probably true. Gabriel shook his heads and banished the angel blade he'd summoned.

"Sorry kiddo. I'm just gonna borrow Hermione here for a sec, k?" He grabbed her shoulders and they reappeared in the kitchen.

"We could've walked." Hermione murmured, leaning back against the table.

"My way's more fun." She made a quiet noise in her throat which sounded vaguely sassy and Gabriel flicked her nose. "Focus. Cas. Leviathans. What the Hell?"

She sighed heavily.

"Castiel opened Purgatory."

Gabriel blinked at her before clenching his jaw.

"What the fuck did Dean do that they thought that was a good idea?"

Hermione shrugged.

"As far as I could calculate, Dean was trying to stop Castiel. He failed, obviously."

For a moment, Gabriel tried to work out what was so bad that it would put those two  _against_  each other. Sam and Dean sure, but not Cas.

"More importantly," Hermione continued. "What do you want to do with the Prophet?"

"What's supposed to happen?" He asked and she shrugged. "Seriously?"

"What? You were the only free radical, Gabe. I calculated slightly further ahead to make sure nothing went severely awry and then I left it at that."

"You should have told me." Gabriel snapped, his wings fluffing slightly. "Right. Prophet. Can we keep him here for a bit? With Crowley on his ass and that tablet..."

Hermione tipped her head back, staring at the rafters. Gabriel had been badgering her for months to put in a proper apartment in up there, so she wasn't literally living in her work. There was enough room, roughly ten feet of clearance between the horizontal beams and the point of the roof. She chuckled.

"We're going to need a spare room," She admitted. "Just put in a staircase, would you?"

Beaming, Gabriel took off for the rafters, dancing gracefully along the wrought iron. He could hear Hermione making her way back over to the Prophet.

"Sorry about that." She murmured, just loud enough for him to hear her without straining his ears. Probably deliberate, Mimi was odd about things like that sometimes. "Now, Gabriel's going to set up a room for you and we'd like you to stay here for a while to keep you safe."

The Prophet's heartbeat increased slightly.

"But..."

"We're not going to hurt you." She promised. "I won't and Gabriel physically can't."

"What do you mean?"

Hermione sighed heavily.

"Well, as far as I understand it, when the Prophet's came into being, they were assigned an Archangel to watch over them and protect them from harm. Up until very recently, that was the Archangel Raphael. However, he's apparently dead." She explained bluntly and Gabriel flinched. "As are all the others. So," She paused and Gabriel, having worked out what he wanted, manifested the apartment with a loud bang. Kevin's neck cracked as he jerked his head up to stare at the new ceiling. "Gabriel was very confused to get your call, but it means Raphael's duties have passed to him. He got the alarm this morning." She continued.

"Well, more like all week." Gabriel corrected, appearing behind her. Kevin jumped. "Just got serious this morning. What've you been doing? Hanging around demons 24/7?"

"Oh, Meg." Kevin breathed, staring at them with very wide eyes. "The nurse."

Now that was a name Gabriel actually knew. Meg had been around for a  _very_  long time, in one guise or another. She was...difficult to quantify.

"What was she doing with the Winchester's?"

Kevin shrugged.

"I thought she was Cas' girlfriend, but I dunno."

"Girlfriend?" Gabriel turned angry eyes on Hermione. '' _Girl_ friend?''

Hermione heaved a great sigh.

''I told you they'd make it.'' She snapped, coldly. ''I never said it would be soon. Come on, Kevin. Let's go get you settled in. I'm sure you'd like a nap.''

''I would?'' Kevin murmured as Hermione led him away.

Gabriel perched on a cabinet scowling.

This wasn't what was supposed to have happened. They'd managed to thwart the Apocalypse, what could have gone so badly wrong that Cas' thought opening Purgatory was a good idea? He squinted at a medium sized folder which was permanently sitting on Hermione's desk. There was a note taped to the top.

It said '' _DON'T_ '' on it in thick black letters.

He squinted up at the apartment where Hermione and Kevin were, deep in thought.

Wasn't worth the risk.

Seconds later he was back in his own universe and in the air, searching for answers. And possibly throw pillows.

* * *

It was complicated and  _that_  was coming from the runaway Archangel. Apparently, Heaven had fallen into turmoil, Raphael demanding that Michael and Lucifer be released from the Cage. He'd never known when to give up. He'd wanted the Winchester's bodies properly occupied and the Apocalypse back on track.

And Castiel, proving once again that the loyalty he had to Dean Winchester knew no bounds whatsoever (Like seriously Cas' what the Hell, this is embarrassing) had thrown up arms against Raphael and started a civil war.

Gabriel had seen a lot of civil wars and they were all the same. Bloody, vicious, with more loss of life than anyone would really admit to. Heaven's garrisons lost a quarter of their angels in the years since the Apocalypse and most of them had died at the hands of their own brothers and sisters. But Raphael, Gabriel's big brother, the last of the Archangel's...he'd died at the hands of Castiel.

From what he could piece together, Castiel had absorbed the souls in Purgatory and defeated Raphael. Then he'd gone on a power drunk rampage until Dean managed to convince him to return to souls to Purgatory. Unfortunately, Leviathans refused to be returned, which...is just plain  _rude._  They killed Castiel and escaped into the world causing havoc and chaos and terror and tyranny and...

''Gabriel, I get the point.'' Hermione interrupted.

Gabriel glowered at her.

...death and destruction. So the Winchesters did what they did best and charged off to save everyone. And then Cas came back from the dead,  _again_ , which is just...Is the kid allergic to being dead or something? Anyway, he came back but without any memory and then he went insane saving Sam from his memories of the Cage and then they found the Prophet and...

''And then Dick exploded.'' She murmured.

''Bingo.'' Gabriel refilled her margarita and then drank straight from the jug himself. Kevin was passed out somewhere down the hall, they were in the brand new living room although, he noted, Hermione had redecorated so the walls weren't leopard print. He wondered if she'd seen what he'd done to the bathroom yet.

''Can you get them out?'' Hermione asked quietly.

He didn't bother to pretend not knowing what she was talking about.

''No.'' She blinked at him, in a rare show of surprise. ''What? I'm not what I used to be. I mean a millennium ago when I was still in Heaven, sure. Piece of cake. Now? After what I did to escape Lucifer...'' He sighed. ''I got most of my grace back.  _Most_  of it. I'm still a celestial bad ass...But I can't break into Purgatory. Not on my own. Not without doing some serious damage to the cosmos.''

''We regularly do serious damage to the cosmos.'' Hermione teased. She downed the rest of her drink in one go, grimacing at the alcohol. ''Get some rest tonight,'' She murmured as she got to her feet. ''It might be a busy day tomorrow. ''

''We haven't got another Shift for two weeks.'' He complained.

''Yes. But we've got a teenager to look after now and I've got to schedule in the next three days for calculating the future of your universe, so  _you_ are going to have to remember to feed him.''

Gabriel blinked at her.

''Do I look like a parental figure to you? Can't I do the calculations?'' He pleaded.

''I feel like I should have recorded that statement for posterity.'' Hermione mused. ''Gabe willingly offering to do paperwork. And no. You can't...Don't look at me like that, you know why.''

Gabriel widened his eyes and Hermione just arched an eyebrow. Damn puppy eyes never worked on her.

''I can't trust you to be impartial.'' She reminded him. ''First warning of trouble and off you'll go to dance in the drama. So you look after the Prophet and I'll deal with the equations. Just feed him and remind him to go to sleep. Children aren't hard.'' She patted his shoulder on the way past. ''It'll be fine.''

* * *

Kevin  _was_  quiet for the most part. He spent a lot of time deciphering the tablet and asking Gabriel what things meant which was hard for Gabriel because he hadn't really been paying attention to Metatron when he wrote the damn thing and admitting that now was kinda embarrassing. Hermione was quiet too but that was because she hadn't surfaced from her desk in three days except to go to the bathroom and had broken three quills due to the speed she was writing at. Gabriel had banished the mangled golden feathers unhappily, but it wasn't as though she didn't have a drawer full of the damn things. Occasionally she'd glance up from her work and just stare at him with empty brown eyes. She'd done it to Kevin once and the poor kid had freaked out and ran away.

* * *

**Shift 352691 - Granger/Gabriel**

Hermione and Gabriel waited until the bad guy and his henchmen had vanished around the corner before sprinting out from behind the wall and kneeling next to the man in the suit.

''Is he still alive?'' Hermione murmured, removing the man's shattered glasses.

Gabriel extended his grace and frowned.

''Just barely. Brain's still sparking away, which is good.''

''Right,'' Hermione examined the bullet hole, scowling. Most of the skin on the side of his head was missing, as was a good portion of bone. He wasn't dead yet, but he soon would be. ''This will be a patch job then,  _Ferula_.'' Thick white bandages wrapped tightly around the man's head, covering the wound. Gabriel snapped a cell phone into existence and started punching in the code for the emergency services.

''We can't take him to the hospital ourselves?'' He asked.

Hermione shook her head, peering at the thick framed glasses. There were several pieces of thin copper wire poking out of one broken arm.

''Can't risk it. It will look more credible if he was just found by a concerned member of the public. Raises less questions.''

Gabriel spouted off directions to the dispatcher and then hung up.

''They'll be here in five. When do we need to be back?''

Hermione folded the glasses and tucked them in the man's suit pocket.

''We don't. We just needed to make sure he survived. He won't wake up for a few months. C'mon. Let's see if there's a shop around here. Kevin wanted to make brownies.''

Gabriel followed her down the road, leaving the injured man behind them.

''Kevin can  _bake_?''

* * *

''That's really creepy.''

Hermione sighed.

''Just ignore it. He'll stop in a minute.''

Kevin whined.

''He's just... _What_  is he doing?''

''He's not there at the moment.'' She placated. ''Don't worry. He'll come back.''

''He's just staring straight at me. It's like he's looking straight into my...Fuck!'' Kevin yelped, reeling backwards as Gabriel blinked and focused his eyes on the Prophet.

''Don't swear.'' Hermione chided.

''How does he do that?'' The Prophet wailed.

Gabriel frowned at them.

''Did I miss something?''

''Kevin's just getting used to some of your habits.'' She inked her quill and scored out a long line of equations.

''I have habits?'' Gabriel asked, bemused.

''But it's not normal.'' Kevin slouched into the sofa and Hermione put down her quill with a sigh, folding her arms.

''He's an angel. This is what they're like.''

''Castiel wasn't.'' Kevin muttered.

''Castiel has been tainted.'' Gabriel pointed out. ''He's been infected with humanity. With love.''

''Oh, Dean, right.'' Kevin nodded before he glared at them. ''Humanity isn't a disease!''

''Isn't it?'' Hermione asked unhappily.

''Urgh,'' Gabriel stepped between them, ''Doesn't have to be a disease to be catchable. Angels' aren't like Castiel, kiddo. Castiel is what an angel looks like after they Fall.''

''And that's bad?'' Kevin frowned.

Gabriel frowned.

''Uhhhhh. Maybe?''

''Love isn't bad, Kevin.'' Hermione placated, taking over. ''But love can drive people to actions which can be considered incomprehensible. What Castiel has done, what he has become...to most Angels is abhorrent. Angels do not understand love.''

''We understand it.'' Gabriel complained. ''We just don't  _get_ it.''

''That makes no sense.'' Hermione scoffed. ''My point is...everything Castiel has done, both good and bad, has been in the name of Dean Winchester. And the Angel's don't,''

''The Angel's  _can't_.'' Gabriel corrected.

''Understand that. It's just not in their programming. They're not human, Kevin.''

Gabriel sighed.

''We're barely even people. We're not born, we're made. And we're  _old_. I am so old, Kevin, you can't even grasp it. We don't adapt to new ideas, because most of us  _can't_.''

Kevin frowned at them.

''But what about you?''

He shrugged.

''I got out early. And I'm an Archangel. That makes a whole world of difference. Angels are created to obey. I was made to govern.''

''So why aren't you in Heaven, helping the Angels?'' Kevin demanded.

Gabriel froze and Hermione sighed.

''Kevin, don't ask annoying questions.''

* * *

''Mrs Tran?'' Hermione asked softly, leaning forward in the queue. The short Asian woman in front of her stiffened. ''I've got a message from your son.''

Gabriel watched as Hermione was dragged into a dark shadowy corner of the mall and kept a tight hold on Kevin's collar.

''I know, kid.'' He placated. ''But it's too dangerous.''

Hermione and Gabriel, in a shocking display of maturity, had sat Kevin down and explained to him why he couldn't just go home. But even they weren't heartless and Hermione had felt bizarrely empathetic for this woman that they had never met and her son that they seemed to be fostering, so she'd arranged this encounter.

Gabriel listened in shamelessly as Hermione explained that Kevin was in danger, but that she was taking care of him, keeping him safe. Tiger-mom was...apparently furious until Hermione nodded over the woman's shoulder and she turned to stare at them.

The Prophet's mother was surrounded by demons, there was three nearby right now so Gabriel was using a significant amount of his grace to make sure only the two women could see Kevin sitting next to him.

Kevin burst into tears and waved at his mom. Mrs Tran, looking shell shocked, waved back. She made to move towards them but Hermione stopped her. For a long moment the two women just stared at her, Mrs Tran displaying that particularly terrifying blend of maternal instinct that used to protect the human race from bears. Hermione just looked apologetic and horribly, horribly understanding.

''It'll be okay,'' Gabriel promised as Kevin, tear stained and miserable watched his mother walk away from him, safely convinced that she was keeping him safe.

* * *

**Shift 3694.97 - Granger/Gabriel**

Hermione settled herself in one corner of the cell as Gabriel paced the corridor outside keeping watch. The other occupant scowled at her through his fringe.

''Why have you come back?''

Hermione shrugged.

''I thought you might like someone to talk to. Did you enjoy the books I left for you?''

''Your mortal stories are paltry and beneath me.'' He snarled, green eyes flashing dangerously. Hermione looked unimpressed. ''But the distraction was...appreciated.''

Believe it or not but this was progress. When they'd first started visiting this guy he'd attempted to murder them on sight.

''Good.'' Hermione smiled. ''I'll admit the narrative is a bit lacking in some of them but they're a valuable experience if nothing else.''

Laufeyson nodded his head.

''I enjoyed the one about the dragon.'' He admitted begrudgingly.

Hermione beamed at him which just made the poor bastard look confused and startled.

''Oh the Hobbit. It's one of my favourites as well. I've got the other ones in the series if you'd like to read them?'' She stacked the books next to her without waiting for an answer. ''I like the message about heroes particularly.''

''Your attempts to redeem me bore me.'' He drawled.

Hermione snorted.

''The world is not split into good or bad. You are not evil. You're not even terribly bad. Your brother is not truly a hero. Not with that much blood on his hands.''

''He is not my brother.'' The prisoner spat.

''Not by blood,'' Hermione agreed. ''But the familial bonds we choose are often stronger than those thrust upon us by birth.''

''Thor is no murderer.'' He added, glaring at her. ''Blood spilt in battle does not count.''

''Uh...yeah. It does.'' Gabriel chimed in as he passed the cell.

Hermione groaned.

''Don't.'' She warned when the prisoner opened his mouth to retaliate. ''You two are not to speak to one another. One trickster is more than enough at a time. I swear Gabriel if I didn't need you for long distance travel I'd leave you at home.''

The prisoner stuck his tongue out at Gabriel who made a rude gesture he'd picked up as a Norse deity. The man's pale complexion flushed a ruddy red.

''Gabriel!'' Hermione snapped and he rolled his eyes, continuing his patrol. She turned back to the prisoner. ''That's a rather strong defence for a man you claim to care nothing about.''

Laufeyson, Gabriel refused to call him by his other name, curled his lip at her but didn't argue. He'd learned the hard way that Hermione was too great an opponent.

''How's your mother?'' She added, filling two mugs from her Thermos. She handed one to Laufeyson who accepted it without thought. Another minor victory.

''She is well. Worried about Thor. She thinks he'll get himself killed, battling through the nine realms as he has been. Not that I'm concerned.''

''Of course not,'' Hermione smirked.

''Oh, it's no great secret that the only reason that great oaf survived childhood is because I kept him out of trouble.''

''True. You  _are_  the smarter of the pair.'' Hermione sipped at her drink and pretended not to see the look of surprise the prisoner sent her. ''Tell me a story.''

Laufeyson was, loath to admit it as Gabriel was, a far superior story teller. He spent the next two hours telling them about his childhood, weaving hilarious stories and mysterious epics. The pale man basked in their laughter, and their rapt attention, seeming to glow brighter with each story.

Eventually, they had to leave and Hermione paused, empty mugs clutched in her hand.

''As long as a person still knows love they cannot truly be said to be lost. You still love deeply and for that reason neither I, nor your mother, nor your brother will ever truly give up on you. This...'' She waved her spare hand around her cell. ''Is not your fate. You will get a second chance, sweetheart. Protect those you love and they will not leave you.'' She allowed Gabriel to pull her through the barrier whilst the prisoner stared at her thoughtfully. ''This is not the end. Don't treat it as such.''

* * *

Gabriel was waist deep in Leviathans when Kevin's frantic prayers got through to him.

''Balls.'' He muttered and hoisted the monster above his head, jamming it onto a nearby flagpole. Why didn't people keep pikes around anymore? Those things were useful.

''Stay.'' He ordered and took wing, streaking towards London like a comet.

He smelt it before he saw it, crashing through the door only to be greeted with the thick tang of copper, iron and life's blood.

Kevin was crouched in the aisle desperately trying to slow the bleeding with his jumper as Hermione tried desperately to calm him down.

''It's okay.'' She was gasping, one bloody hand patting the kid's cheek. Her breath rattled in her chest. ''It's okay, sweetheart. It'll be all right.''

''You're dying!'' Kevin sobbed. ''GABRIEL, COME ON!''

Gabriel shuddered and started moving again.

''Move kid.'' He barked and Kevin virtually threw himself to one side as Gabriel began healing her injuries. Bullet holes, three to be exact, all gut wounds. Judging by the amount of blood, she'd been not long for this realm. ''What the hell happened?'' He demanded as three misshapen bits of metal appeared in his hand. He tossed them to one side, disgusted, before laying his hands back on bare skin and virtually shoving his grace into her.

Hermione whimpered and went limp.

''She just...'' Kevin shivered as her flesh knitted back together. ''She just came through the door, bleeding. I didn't know what to do.''

Gabriel sat back on his heels and sighed. Fuck, if he'd been a minute later...

''You did good, kid.'' He murmured. A quick snap of his fingers and Hermione was dressed in clean pyjamas and the blood was gone. He hoisted her up in his arms and flew the short distance to her bedroom.

''You're gonna be the death of me.'' He grumbled, laying her down on the bed and tucking the covers around her. Hermione didn't say anything, but that was because she was unconscious not because she was ignoring him. ''You could try and make my job easier, you know.'' Gabriel paused as a horrifying thought occurred to him. ''I'm turning into Michael.'' He mumbled, pushing his hair away from his face. ''All responsible and shit.'' He glared at the witch. ''This is your fault.''

On the edge of his hearing, Kevin was having an anxiety attack and Gabriel sighed, grabbing the knitted blanket off the end of Hermione's bed.

* * *

After being wrapped up like a burrito and dropped on their sofa, Kevin managed to come back to himself.

''I'm sorry.'' He mumbled, picking at the blanket.

Gabriel stared at him doubtfully.

''Why?'' He asked, tipping his head back and tossing another popcorn kernel into his mouth.

''I shoulda...''

''Done nothing.'' Gabriel glared at him. ''Kid, if she dies, unless you pulled the trigger, it ain't your fault. It's mine.'' He passed the Prophet a chocolate bar. ''Hermione's job is dangerous. She knows that. I know that'' He gritted his teeth. ''Nothing you can do to change it.''

Kevin sighed, playing with the wrapper.

''Is she okay?''

''She's fine.'' He nudged the TV remote towards him with his foot. ''C'mon, I'm in the mood for cartoons.''

Kevin eyed the plastic remote suspiciously.

''It's not going to explode, is it?''

''Would I do that to you?''

Kevin glared at him and Gabriel smirked.

''Would I do that to you,  _again_?''

* * *

''You're in trouble.''

Hermione rolled her eyes and swung her legs over the edge of the bed.

''What was it this time?'' She murmured, crossing over to her chest of drawers.

''Almost dying,'' Gabriel growled.

''That wasn't my fault.'' She pointed out, rummaging through her clothes. ''I didn't know he had a gun.''

''Lie.''

Hermione scowled.

''I didn't know he was going to shoot someone.''

''Still lying.'' Gabriel sang.

She huffed.

''I didn't know he was going to shoot  _me_. Happy now?''

''No.'' He grumbled. ''What did you do to him anyway?''

''Turned him into MI6. They'll keep him locked up in solitary for a bit and then put him to work in the Quartermaster's Department. Give him...'' She waved a hand. ''Roughly three years and some intensive therapy to get over what they're going to do to him and he'll help someone save the world. Several times.''

''Will he find love?'' He teased.

Hermione's shoulders set.

''Purely by coincidence.'' She snapped. ''It's got nought to do with me.''

''Of course not. Which door was it?'' Gabriel added idly.

''76691...'' She frowned at him over her shoulder. ''Oh, honestly Gabriel. You don't need to...''

* * *

**Shift 76691 - Gabriel**

The dark haired hacker was curled up on the cot at one end of the tiny cell, his skinny arms wrapped tightly around his knees. There were no lights and the room was soundproofed. No one would hear him.

Gabriel smirked and reached for the Tricksters powers, the ones attributed to Loki. He hadn't used them for so long and this... this felt like retribution.

''Let's find out what you're afraid of.'' He breathed.

* * *

There was a phone on Hermione's desk. They'd decided they needed one, but the entire set up was mostly for the stimulating challenge of inventing a phone which could stretch across Universes. It was powered by some bizarre amalgamation of Grace and magic which they were particularly proud of. Unfortunately, the only person around to witness their genius was Kevin and his eyes had started to glaze over when they'd explained it to him.

The Prophet in question was sitting under the oak tree, which had outgrown its pot at some point in the last two years and Gabriel had had to plant the thing in the ground. Also, there was now a patch of ground in the warehouse which had previously been concrete. Minor miracle but hopefully no one would notice. Both boy and tree seemed fairly happy at the moment, although Gabriel was worried the tree would pine when Kevin left.

Oh, and the phone was ringing.

Gabriel was too busy playing ''The Floor is Made of Lava'' and jumping across cabinets to answer it, so Mimi grabbed it absentmindedly as she frowned down at a row of equations. Gabriel eavesdropped shamelessly.

''Hello?''

''Um...It's Dr Watson. I'm sorry, I'm looking for a Ms Granger?''

''Speaking.'' Hermione murmured, still looking at the parchment.

''Um...''

Hermione sighed heavily and leaned back in her chair. She made a face at Gabriel as the cabinets he was bounding over produced a lot more bounce than they were usually physically capable of.

''What is it, Dr Watson?'' She grumbled.

''He doesn't eat!'' Watson said in a rush.

''It's a problem.'' Hermione agreed.

''Well, what do I do?'' The doctor asked desperately.

''Start small,'' Hermione suggested. ''He's never going to manage a sit-down meal, so don't bother. Keep the flat stocked with food, the kind of thing that requires minimal preparation that he can snack on whilst moving. If you put a plate of biscuits or some crisps at his elbow the chances are he'll eat it subconsciously and won't even realise it. If you're cooking make enough for two, but keep it simple. Make sure you eat in front of him, peer pressure is a wonderful thing and there's nothing like watching someone else eat to realise how hungry you are. The same goes for liquids. You can get a lot of water into a person via cups of tea without them even realising you're attempting to hydrate them.'' She paused. ''Do you want me to repeat that?''

''Um...no. Keep it small, simple and subconscious.'' Watson rattled off, sounding slightly overwhelmed.

''Mmm. If you have any further difficulties feeding him, talk to my associate Gabriel.'' She scowled at him. ''He thinks he has seniority in this area.''

Gabriel pouted at her, did a somersault off a cabinet and landed neatly on the floor, wings spread for balance. Hermione sketched a glowing seven in the air with her wand.

''You are so the Russian judge.'' He muttered.

''Thanks for all your help,'' Watson said, completely oblivious to everything.

''You're very welcome, Dr Watson. Don't hesitate to call if you need anything.'' She hung up without saying goodbye.

''Rude.'' Gabriel pointed out as he made his way over to her.

''Like you care.'' Hermione murmured. ''I hope your advice works or else he'll never call back.''

''If I can convince you to eat, I can convince him.'' Gabriel spouted. Hermione bad habit of vanishing into her work made her eating habits...well Gabriel ate more regularly that she did and he didn't even digest food properly. Having Kevin around had helped because the kid needed feeding regularly. Gabriel didn't want to stunt his growth.

Was he still growing? When did humans stop growing?

''Speaking of...'' Hermione added, frowning back at the data sheet. ''I think we're about to lose our regular delivery service.''

Gabriel leaned down to peer at the equations.

''What's wrong with Ianto?''

''Nothing.'' Her lips pursed. ''Yet, anyway.''

* * *

Gabriel's eyes opened and he smirked.

It was about time.

He stepped neatly off the top of the warehouse and landed in front of the door, booting it open.

"Guess what?" He declared.

No one guessed and Gabriel realised the lights were off. He flew upstairs and reappeared in Hermione's room. There was a lump under the covers. This was an improvement on her sleeping in her armchair.

"Mimi?" He yelled, pulling back the blankets slightly.

Silence.

"Mimi?"

"Grrr." One of her brown eyes opened and glared at him. "What?"

"Guess what?"

"Gabriel..." She warned.

"Deano's back." Gabriel singsonged.

"Go away," Hermione muttered, pulling the duvet over her head.

"Awww, you don't mean that." Gabriel pouted, pulling his legs up so he hovered at the end of her bed. "You love me really."

Hermione snarled and sat upright.

"Look, wonderful, Dean's back! Hoorah. However the first thing on his mind is going to be Sam, so why don't you tell me when they're ready for Kevin, instead of waking me up unnecessarily?" She sighed. "And where's Cas'?" She added pleadingly.

That got his attention and he paused to think about it. Where  _was_  baby bro?

Hermione had already gone back to sleep, and he did not get how humans just  _did_  that. Kevin especially. You feed the kid and he was out like a light.

Anyway, Castiel.

* * *

Dean was easy to find. He was crashing his way through the undergrowth of some forest in North America, looking half-wild and mostly insane. He'd have to be. There was a vampire attached to his arm.

Mentally rolling his eyes, Gabriel began looking for his brother. Castiel was usually easy to find. There had always been something which made him stand apart from the rest of the host but now...There was no sign of him. He didn't dare rummage around in Dean's head, not while he had a vampire symbiote on him so at a guess he'd say Cas' was still back in Purgatory.

Sighing, he went home.

* * *

This time Gabriel made sure there was tea on hand when he woke up Hermione. Kevin was snoring away in his room, curled around the tablet like it was some sort of rock hard teddy bear, but Hermione was sleeping silently. No nightmares tonight.

"Mimi?"

"No." She grumbled.

"I've brought tea."

One arm stretched out of the covers and Gabriel passed over the mug. She sat up with a scowl and took a sip. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped when she glared at him and went back to hovering over the foot of her bed.

''Where is he?'' She asked eventually.

Gabriel sighed.

''Still in Purgatory. I guess Dean didn't care about him that much after all.'' He tried not to sound bitter.

Hermione breathed in steam and fixed him with a lazy glare, before breathing it out through her nose like dragon smoke.

''Does that sound like Dean Winchester to you?'' She murmured.

It did not.

''Does it sound like Cas to open Purgatory?'' He retaliated.

''If he thought he was doing the right thing, yes.'' She took another drink and Gabriel admitted she had a point. Castiel had always loved what was  _righteous_.

* * *

Gabriel watched and waited as Dean made his way back across the country to his brother. They had their suitably manly reunion and then Dean went completely insane and then he demanded to know where Kevin was. Gabriel grinned as they listened to the messages on Sam's phone.

" _Hey, Sam. Just to let you know I got away from Crowley. Uh...listen...Do you know anything about Archangel's?_ "

Sam and Dean both paled.

" _Hey, Sam. It's been like two months now, what the hell are you doing? I'm safe, not that you care. Your friends are looking after me._ "

"Friends?" Dean mouthed, looking disbelieving.

" _Hey, Sam. I guess you're dead or something. Hermione says you're still alive but you're just busy. I hope she's right. Gabe says she's always right._ "

''Gabe?'' Sam squeaked.

" _Hey, Sam. Did you know Metatron was a douchebag? Apparently, none of the Archangels could stand him...You know what...Fuck you! You dragged me into this life and now you've abandoned me in the middle of nowhere with complete strangers. Screw you! Hey, at least I have my guardian angel because if it'd been left to you, I'd be dead!_ "

" _Hey, Sam. Just a heads up. I don't think you're even getting these messages but still...They reckon Dean will be back from Purgatory in the next month. Hermione says the time line will converge soon. I dunno what that means. Your friends are weird._ "

''Where the  _hell_  did you send Kevin?'' Dean demanded, furiously.

Sam flailed, tugging at his hair.

''I didn't send him anywhere, how could I? I haven't seen him since Crowley took him!''

''Yeah and by the sounds of things some jerk pretending to be an Archangel took him instead.'' Dean scowled. ''How the hell are we supposed to find him now?''

That, Gabrielthought to himself, may be easier than you think.

* * *

''You've got everything?'' Hermione fussed, tugging on Kevin's hoodie for some reason known only to her. Kevin smiled easily and nodded, apparently used to it.

''Yeah, I'm fine.''

Hermione shoved her hair out of her face with a sigh and grimaced.

''Look, if Sam and Dean place you in danger, the alarm should go off and Gabe will drop in to check on you. If he doesn't, call us and we'll help. All right?''

Kevin shuffled his feet.

''Yeah, I'll be all right, Hermione.''

Hermione ignored that and just stared pointedly at Gabriel.

He grabbed Kevin's shoulder and grinned as the kid adjusted the hat on his head. It had flaps over his ears and was a nice shade of blue, with Enochian wards embroidered around the edge.

''Ready kiddo?''

* * *

Gabriel and his two humans waited in the first large town down the interstate from the Winchesters and let Kevin call in for help. They sat on a park bench and ate ice cream, which was just insanely sad and made Gabriel wonder at what point he'd become a domesticated Archangel.

''How much can I tell them about you guys?'' Kevin asked, crunching on his chocolate flake.

Gabriel and Hermione shrugged.

''The less said about Mimi the better,'' He announced and Kevin nodded in understanding. The things Hermione could do  _without_  grace would only scare the Winchesters. ''Just tell them she's my human.''

Hermione sighed.

''I am  _not_  your human.''

''You kinda are. Look, it says so,'' He waved vaguely at the section of her aura which had his name on it. ''There...ish.''

''Did you write your name on me?'' Hermione snapped, scowling at him.

''Don't you work for Hermione?'' Kevin broke in, used to their bickering by now.

''Like a jealous three-year-old!'' Hermione continued shrilly, apparently annoyed by something.

Gabriel waved that off.

''Not important.'' His hearing picked up the distinctive engine note that any supernatural being on this Earth knew to listen out for. ''Okay, so they've just rolled into town. Me and Mimi will still be here, you just won't be able to see us. Just say our names if you want our help, okay?'' He snapped his fingers, hiding them both from the passing humans.

''Will he be all right?'' Hermione asked, sounding depressed.

Gabriel stared at her.

''I thought you knew what was going to happen.''

She gritted her teeth.

''Exactly.'' Hermione ground out.

Gabriel paled, looking from her to the Prophet he'd somehow grown attached to.

''Oh.'' He managed.

* * *

Sam and Dean looked relieved to find Kevin in one piece, although the darker part of Gabriel suggested that was just because he was of use to them. Judging by the grim twist to Hermione's lips she was thinking along the same lines.

''Where the hell have you been?'' Sam demanded, looking both frantic and guilty. Guess Dean had laid on the guilt trips pretty thick.

Kevin shrugged.

''London mostly.''

The Winchester's gaped at him.

''Kid, how'd you get to freakin' London?'' Dean breathed.

The Prophet looked at them like they were mad.

''Gabriel took me.'' He stared at them wide eyed. ''How do _you_  get to London?''

Even Hermione snickered at that.

''I am so proud of that kid.'' Gabriel managed, laughing into his fist.

''You are a terrible influence,'' Hermione whispered back.

''Kevin, Gabriel's dead!'' Dean snapped. ''Lucifer killed him years ago.''

Kevin shouldered his bag and made his way towards the Impala.

''Whatever you say, Dean. Hey, can we stop for pizza? I'm kinda hungry.''

* * *

It didn't take the Winchester's long to try and summon him and Gabriel grinned excitedly at Hermione.

''I can't wait to see their faces.'' He trilled.

Hermione sighed heavily and Gabriel let the smile drop off his face.

Because she wasn't fooled. She was never fooled. And Gabriel wasn't happy.

Gabriel was very, very angry.

* * *

He and Hermione appeared invisible in the corner of the boy's motel room, watching Sam and Dean bicker.

''I knew it.'' Dean shoved at the bowl they'd been using for the summoning. ''He's dead.''

''Kevin described him...'' Sam started.

''So it's something that looks like Gabriel!'' Dean snapped. ''He went up against Lucifer, Sam. There's no coming back from that.''

''Gee boys,'' Gabriel drawled, stepping into the visible spectrum. ''You really oughta have more faith in me.''

''Gabriel?'' Sam stuttered, but Gabriel ignored him, too busy glaring at Dean. The older Winchester, stiffened, folding his arms.

''Hey, Deano.'' Gabriel snarled. He moved and yeah, the hunter was as deadly as ever after his stay in Purgatory, but Gabriel was an Archangel. He had the bastard pinned to the wall before anyone could blink. ''You left my brother behind.'' He tightened his grip and Dean snarled at him. ''You left an  _angel_  in Purgatory!''

''You think I don't know that!'' Dean yelled.

''I trusted you to look after him!'' Gabriel snapped. ''And instead, you let him free the Leviathans from Purgatory? You let him die,  _again_  and then you just leave him behind!'' In the background he can hear Sam scrabbling for a weapon, begging with Hermione, who must have made herself visible, to do something to stop him.

''Gabriel,'' Hermione warned quietly, as Dean started to go purple. ''You can't kill him.''

''Why not?'' He hissed, wings thrashing as the lights flickered around the room and the rest of the state.

''Because it will break Castiel's heart to come back and find him dead.''

Dean dropped to the floor in a heap as Gabriel turned to Hermione, who was being eyed warily by Sam.

''He's coming back?''

''Of course, he is.'' She smiled weakly. ''Do you think he'd really be left behind?''

Gabriel grabbed her shoulders, holding her still.

''Do you know he's coming back or do you  _know_?''

Hermione sighed.

''I promised you a happy ending, didn't I? It's still on track.''

''What the hell's going on?'' Sam demanded. ''Who the hell are you?''

Gabriel let Hermione go, smoothing out his shirt absent-mindedly.

''She's Mimi.'' He said as Hermione said,

''I'm not important.''

''Wait,'' Dean rubbed at his throat as he got to his feet, eyeing Gabriel warily. ''Cas' is coming back? How the hell do you know?''

Gabriel shrugged, annoyed.

''She knows everything.''

''Is he okay?'' Dean demanded, turning to her. ''Cas'. Is he all right?''

''Okay is relative.'' Hermione perched on a rickety motel chair. ''He's alive.''

''Relative?'' Dean snarled, advancing on her. ''What kind of jumped up mumbo jumbo answer is that? Is he...''

''Deano,'' Gabriel smiled mercilessly, stepping between him and the witch. ''Engage that smallville brain of yours and Do Not Touch Her.''

The Winchesters froze as the lights flickered again and Gabriel winced because he hadn't meant to make that an Order.

''Whoa.'' Sam grabbed the back of his brother's shirt and pulled slightly, making Dean back off. ''How about we don't piss off the Archangel, huh Dean?'' He paused. ''How'd you survive Lucifer anyway? We went back, you were nothing but burnt wings.''

''Let's just say I didn't learn my best tricks from my brothers.'' Gabriel leaned against the table and popped a malteser into his mouth.

''But why didn't you come back and help us?'' Sam demanded furiously. ''We needed you!''

''No,'' Hermione corrected quietly. ''You didn't. You averted the Apocalypse, you sealed away Lucifer and Michael and saved the world. That was your destiny. Gabriel chose his path and met his own. You didn't need him. He did everything he was supposed to.''

For a moment the motel room was swamped in silence as the Winchesters just stared at her.

''Are you Fate?'' Sam blurted.

Hermione rolled her eyes and got to her feet.

''I'm going to see Kevin,'' She announced and looked at him expectantly. Gabriel snapped his fingers and she vanished. She could travel herself, but he really didn't want the Winchesters to know she could. Those bozos might just come after her someday.

''She's not Atropos,'' Gabriel added, turning back to them. ''Believe me, they do  _not_  get along. I'm talking serious cat fights there. Anyway,'' he added, changing the topic. ''It's not like I've never helped you guys. What do you think I've been doing for the last year?''

Dean shook himself.

''So it really was you lookin' after the Prophet?''

''Kevin.'' He corrected sharply. ''The kid's name is  _Kevin_. And yeah. Prophet alarm went off and I headed straight for the kid,'' He glared at Sam. ''What the Hell were you thinking Gigantor? Leaving a Prophet with Crowley? Kid's lucky I  _wasn't_  dead. And you two can say thank you for the Leviathans by the way.''

They just gaped at him.

Humans. Honestly.

* * *

''How long have we got?'' Gabriel asked as she sealed the door behind them.

Hermione sighed unhappily.

''Before Castiel returns? I don't know.''

''How does he get out?''

She hung up her cloak and pretended not to hear him.

''Mimi.''

''No.''

''C'mon,'' He wheedled. ''I need to know.''

''No, you don't.''

He narrowed his eyes and followed her, taking in the tired set to her shoulders and the upset tinge to her aura.

''What aren't you telling me?''

Hermione fixed him with a bemused look.

''Most things.''

Urgh, this was hard work.

''What  _specifically_  aren't you telling me?'' He pressed.

Hermione shrugged.

''I'm going to go run some more calculations.''

''But...''

''Later, Gabriel.''

Gabriel scowled as she vanished between filing cabinets and debated sulking. It wasn't any fun on his own.

* * *

**Shift 83497 - Gabriel**

''It's like she doesn't listen to anything I say!'' He whined.

Emrys shrugged.

''Maybe she's trying to protect you.''

Gabriel kicked out at the leaves in front of him.

''I'm an  _angel_.'' He complained. ''I'm a warrior. What do I need protecting from?''

Emrys smiled at him.

''Maybe it's not your body she's protecting.'' He suggested, reaching out to snap some flowers off a bush. ''Angel's do have hearts, don't they?''

Well...yes. Technically. Gabriel did have a heart. Or his vessel did at least. But the man-sun probably meant emotions and crap like that.

''Why'd she do that?'' Gabriel scowled. ''What do I care about?''

Cas' was the obvious answer to that one. Baby bro was the last decent angel left in the host and the little Seraph was just so damn broken. You couldn't fault Gabriel for wanting to care for the last of his fledgelings. Hermione was the next thing that came to mind. He didn't know what he'd do without his human, and then there was Kevin, the charge he'd somehow gotten attached to.

''See?'' Emrys smirked at him, raven black hair sticking up in odd places as his lanky body stepped easily through the woodland.

''Oh, shut up.'' Gabriel snapped. He stretched his wings wide, rolling his shoulders as he did so. The wizard eyed them warily and Gabriel smirked. ''So, speaking of hearts...''

Emrys went red.

''No.'' He grumbled.

''Oh, come on. You can tell me. How's the old soulmate?''

''He's not old,'' Emrys grumbled, missing the point completely. ''And he's fine. Uther's encouraging him to marry.''

''Let me guess, encouraging really means forcing?''

Emrys let out a pathetic whine.

''Oh buddy, does it suck to be you,'' Gabriel announced gleefully. ''Have you told him yet?''

''You know I haven't.'' The man-sun scowled. ''He'd never forgive me.''

''For something you were born to be?'' Gabriel sighed. ''It ain't your fault. But better to hear it from you than someone else.'' He shrugged. ''Just think about it.''

* * *

''Gabriel, I understand that you're concerned,'' Hermione insisted, on a rare break from her work. ''But until I identify the best course of action, there's really nothing we can do. So would you stop battering around me like a demented canary?''

Gabriel scowled at her.

''This isn't just some randomer...it's..''

''One of your fledgelings,'' She finished, rubbing at her forehead. ''I understand, Gabriel, I really do, but I'm sorry...'' She paused, flattening her palm out over her head. ''I'm doing my best, but my head is killing me and...'' The blood vessels in both her eyes burst as Hermione let out a bone rendering scream. She fell to her knees clutching at her head, bloody tears streaming down her face and her screams passed beyond vocal, in enough pain that she wasn't capable of making a sound.

''Mimi,'' He yelled, flinging himself towards her. He caught her as she fainted dead away. ''Fuck, Mimi, no...''

Bloody eyes reopened but it wasn't Hermione looking out of them.

''Where am I?'' The stranger demanded, staring up at Gabriel. ''What's going on?''

''Get Out Of Her.'' Gabriel Ordered, manifesting his wings behind him as he tried to use his grace to push the stranger out.

''Wait,'' Hermione's head turned. ''I know this place. This is the Warehouse and...Hermione. Oh, this shouldn't have happened. How did this happen? It's never been a problem before.''

Gabriel snarled at the stranger, feeling his grace burn behind his own eyes.

''Get Out Of My Human.''

''Your human?'' Hermione's features twisted into a disgusted grimace. ''You can't own a living being, it's barbaric.'' They shuddered. ''Oh no. The psychic backlash is tearing her apart. I need to get my shields back up.'' Brown eyes ringed in red fixed on Gabriel's. ''Catch her.'' The stranger ordered before Hermione's body went limp once again.

Gabriel worked quickly, throwing his own shields up around her mind doing his best to if not sever, then at least dampen that damned connection. He healed the damage to her brain, she'd been working her way up towards a severe stroke. Lifting his human easily, he carried her to the sofa still kept in her office.

''Fuck, Mimi.'' He breathed, brushing her fringe away from her forehead. ''Don't do this to me.''

A loud hammering echoed across the warehouse and Gabriel's eyes narrowed. He lifted his wings behind him and stalked towards the blue door, unlocking it and ripping it open.

''You.'' He roared, grabbing the man by the lapels and hauling him through the door. He was lanky, dressed in a brown suit and trainers, with tear tracks staining his cheeks. He looked infuriatingly unafraid of an Archangel's wrath. ''What did you do to her?''

The man scowled.

''It's a self-defense mechanism,'' He spat, kicking at Gabriel's knees. ''I reached out to the nearest mind and she wasn't equipped to handle it. So will you let me help her or will you leave her crippled for the rest of her life?''

Gabriel dropped him to the floor.

''If you so much as...'' He warned.

''Whatever.'' The man hissed, ducking around him. ''Now where is she? And who are you anyway? She was on her own the last time I checked.''

''When was the last time you checked?'' Gabriel snapped back. ''You promised you'd visit.''

The man flinched and he ignored Gabriel as he made his way unerringly towards Hermione's office.

''I'm Gabriel,'' Gabriel added. ''The Archangel.''

Brown eyes shot him a disdainful look over one shoulder.

''There's no such thing.''

Gabriel's lip curled into a snarl, showing his teeth and the man turned back, dropping to his knees next to the sofa.

''I'm sorry.'' He breathed quietly.

Gabriel snorted as the man scanned her with whatever the buzzy blue thing was.

''I don't understand.'' He frowned at his stick. ''She should have severe brain bleeds, injuries...She's basically human and humans can't withstand that kind of psychic strain.''

''I fixed the physical stuff.'' Gabriel glowered at him.

''How?'' The man stared at him. His aura glinted gold around an old and heavily scarred soul.

''I'm an  _angel_.'' Gabriel drawled. ''It's what I do, dipshit.''

The man's lip curled in that particular way Hermione reserved for '' _Americans_ '' and dropped down next to her, lifting his hands to her temples. Gabriel felt the push against his shields and held them firm, waiting quietly for annoyed brown eyes to turn back to him.

''What...How...Never mind, just stop doing that!''

''Why?'' He asked. ''You're in her head enough as it is.'' He watched, mildly interested in the sheer fury that radiated from this guy. That anger was old, anger that had cooled and reheated so many times it was like a diamond.

''Either you drop your shields, or she suffers severe psychic scarring and I don't think you want that.'' The man snarled.

Gabriel stared him down for a long moment before he dropped the shields. He kept a close eye on the pair of them though, ready to end the other man the moment he stepped out of line.

Nothing happened though and he dropped his hands to his sides an hour later, looking exhausted.

''There.'' He staggered off to an armchair and collapsed onto it, watching as Gabriel dropped down next to Hermione. '' I really am sorry about this. I never meant to hurt her.''

Gabriel was too preoccupied watching Hermione's magic swirl about her to do more than scoff at that.

* * *

She didn't wake for several hours and Gabriel sat by her side letting her dreams filter into his head. Their minds had connected so often it would take actual effort to keep them out and Gabriel...Gabriel didn't really mind them.

The stranger was still there, head tipped back against the cabinet radiating grief and anger. It wasn't uncontrolled now, he'd managed to anchor himself, keeping it from overspilling into Hermione but it was still a swirling, soul crushing maelstrom.

''Rose.'' Hermione breathed, her breath stirring Gabriel's feathers, tucked intangible against his back.

He sighed as the stranger twitched, eyes narrowing.

''C'mon Mimi.'' He murmured, reaching out to nudge her into consciousness.

''Gabriel?'' She squinted at him. ''What's...'' Her eyes focused over his shoulder on the stranger and she frowned. ''Oh.'' She murmured softly. Understandingly as though she knew exactly what had happened. It was Hermione. She probably did.

Gabriel helped her sit up, propping her up with cushions and sat close to her, keeping a wary eye on her aura. She was sad and her magic had drawn itself close around her like the vines were trying to comfort her.

''I'm so sorry.'' Hermione breathed and the stranger, still sitting against the wall, flinched.

''I didn't think you'd picked up that much before your shields broke.'' He muttered, glaring at the toes of his trainers.

''I didn't,'' Hermione admitted, watching without flinching as the man's fury overwhelmed his grief. He looked up at them with eyes that almost glowed in anger.

''You  _knew_?'' He hissed. ''You knew I was going to lose her?'' He got to his feet as Hermione just sat there. ''You could have done something, could have stopped me before I... You knew I'd lo...''

''Yes.'' Hermione agreed. ''I did. I knew everything. I knew you'd meet a shop girl in London, I knew you'd take her with you, I knew you'd love her and I knew you'd lose her. And I wasn't the only one.''

The man stopped.

''What.''

Hermione heaved out a large breath.

''Someone made a great sacrifice for you not so long ago. Bad Wolf knew what was coming, she knew and she didn't change it. If she didn't...why would I?''

The man stared at them, pale and drawn and Hermione sighed.

''We're going upstairs if you need us. I'll put the kettle on.''

Stiffly, Hermione got to her feet and headed for the staircase. Gabriel only hesitated for a moment before following her.

* * *

''I thought I'd lost you.'' Gabriel murmured.

Hermione stiffened but didn't drop the kettle she was filling with water.

''Gunshot wounds I can fix but this...I didn't even see this coming. How in the name of the Host can I protect you against something inside your own head?''

She turned off the tap and set the kettle onto the lit stove.

''Gabriel,'' She said quietly, turning to face him. ''I don't need to be saved.''

Gabriel looked at her and didn't say anything.

* * *

''I'm sorry.'' The man said, sitting unhappily in their kitchen. ''It was an accident.''

Hermione shrugged apparently more interested in the packet of biscuits that whatever he had to say.

''It's a self-defence mechanism.'' The man added.

''Against what?'' Gabriel asked, despite himself.

The man glared at him but answered anyway.

''My people were constantly connected to one another. Thousands of minds present and aware of each other all at the same time. You can't imagine.'' Gabriel definitely could. ''We also feel very deeply and often we could be overwhelmed by strong emotions. Loss, grief etcetera. When that happened we would automatically reach out to others for support. Only now...Hermione was the only one I was connected to and her mind couldn't handle the sheer weight. It's a miracle you're still alive.'' He added to Hermione.

She looked up from the table and smirked.

''You have Gabriel to thank for that. Miracles are a speciality of his.''

Despite himself, Gabriel laughed and she grinned at him.

''What is he?'' The man asked bluntly.

''Rude.'' Hermione accused and the man flinched. ''He's an Archangel. As I image he's told you.''

''There's no such thing.''

''Suit yourself.'' Hermione smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. It was the one she had on when she was planning to tell someone the truth. ''You need to find someone else to travel with.''

The man's fingers went white around his mug.

''I can't...''

''You can and you will.'' She insisted forcefully. ''Being alone all the time isn't good for anyone but particularly not for the people who meddle with timelines.'' She smiled. ''Take it from someone who knows. You need someone to be your reality check, someone to stop you from going too far.''

They stared at each other.

''I that what he is?'' The man asked. ''Your reality check?''

''Gabriel?'' Hermione scoffed. ''No. Far worse than that. He's my friend.''

* * *

Gabriel locked the blue door, kicked it vindictively and then manifested a Sharpie to draw a moustache on the wolf.

''Mature.'' Hermione commented dryly. ''And unlock it, we're going to have another visit soon.''

''Him?'' Gabriel grumbled.

''No, Ianto. You like Ianto.''

Gabriel scowled because this  _was_  true.

''Stop managing me.'' He complained and then spotted where she was headed. ''Hey! There is no way you're heading back to work after a psychic seizure.'' He grabbed her arm and then picked a door at random. ''We're going for ice cream.''

* * *

"Were there turning points in your universe?" Gabriel asked, licking ice cream off his hand. There were sitting in the bright sunlight of a desert town that for some reason only served mint ice cream. The guy selling it had refused to serve Gabriel claiming that ''he didn't exist'' so Hermione had bought it.

Hermione chuckled, apparently unconcerned by the dark clothed figure hiding in a nearby bush, writing down their conversation on a clipboard.

"Of course there were. We couldn't calculate what they were, the time lines were too muddied. But there were some obvious ones which stand out in my memory."

"Like what?"

''An insult which never should have been uttered, a friendship which never should have been lost. Things which could have avoided the Second War. More in my life time, however...Harry, my best friend and also my brother-in-law, I had a lot of them, yes. Our school had these houses and Harry asked to be sorted into Gryffindor with me and the Weasleys. And that shaped much of his life as well as my own. However Harry was also offered Slytherin and, if not for my actions, I think he might have taken it."

"What did you do?"

Hermione smiled sadly.

"I told him only really great wizards came from Gryffindor and only dark ones came from Slytherin and that," She grimaced. "Is not entirely true. I was young and naive and didn't know any better than the prejudices I picked up from books. When you added that to Draco's comment about Ron and Harry was horrified to be offered Slytherin. But if he'd actually taken it, I think things would have turned out very differently."

"How'd you mean?"

"We always painted the Slytherins as cruel, manipulative bastards and some of them were. But Slytherins stuck by their own in a way that Gryffindors didn't. They were proud because they had to be. If they didn't care for themselves no one would. Much like the muggle-borns, the whole world was against them. They would have noticed that Harry arrived at school skinnier than when he left, that his clothes were hand-me-downs that didn't fit, that no one ever sent him letters. They would have taught him everything he needed to know and they would have loved him in their way. Slytherins aren't dark. They were just driven to darkness because no one in the light wanted them."

"Why'd you change your mind?" He asked, idly.

She smirked.

"I had a rude awakening. Not only did the war change my opinion of certain matters but...I realised I had my own Slytherin living under my roof. Rose, my daughter,'' she clarified. ''She was bright, incredibly so but she had my cunning and my wit. Some of her father's bravery sure, but she was mostly me. I should have been in Slytherin." Hermione added with a grin. "You should have seen Ron's face when I told him I'd had the same choice as Harry did. The only reason I chose Gryffindor was because I was afraid I wouldn't make friends in Slytherin." Her nose wrinkled. "Didn't make many friends anyway but that's beside the point. I had to be sure so I took her to see Draco and his son. He was a bully when I was at school but after the war..." She trailed off for a moment. "Anyway, she and Scorpius hit it off right away, Draco looked disgusted. We couldn't tell her dad though. He'd have thrown a fit. She was always his little Gryffindor. "

"What about Hugo?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. The grief was still there but it was tempered now and she'd learned to smile through it.

"He took after his dad. Gryffindor through and through."

* * *

**Shift 83497 - Gabriel**

''What is it this time?'' Emrys asked. He looked more tired than usual.

''Belladonna, foxglove and...'' Gabriel squinted at the list. ''A griffon feather.''

Emrys nodded, pursing his lips.

''I don't want to know what she's planning to do with all that.'' He grumbled.

Gabriel frowned at him.

''You okay?''

''No.'' The warlock scowled. ''Uther is dying. Arthur is going to be king.''

''Oh.''

* * *

**Shift 3694.77 Granger/Gabriel**

''It'll be fine.'' Hermione murmured.

Gabriel hefted his sword.

''He's a murderer.'' He snapped.

''Lot's of people are murderers.'' She stepped neatly around a jagged piece of iron hanging from the ruined ceiling.

''You're not,'' Gabriel grumbled, expanding his senses.

''Only just.'' She sent him a bemused look. ''I wasn't always a bureaucrat, Gabriel.''

''Really?''

''Really.'' Hermione drew her wand and sighed. ''He's here.''

The man they were here to see wasn't truly a free radical, but he was a guiding force behind one of the largest free radicals in this universe. He was sitting on the floor, staring at the wall. He'd stiffened when they entered the room and, as they approached, he turned to stare at them with large empty eyes. It reminded Gabriel of a child.

''Hello.'' Hermione breathed, tucking her wand back into her sleeve. She dropped onto the floor a few feet away from the man and smiled at him sadly. Gabriel leaned against nothing very much and tried to look non-threatening. ''Are you okay?''

The man stared at them, a small frown forming between his eyebrows.

''I don't know...'' He started and then broke off, looking around him. The room, vault was probably a better word, contained different bits of technology and the echo of a lot of pain. ''Who?'' He asked.

Hermione shrugged.

''My name is Hermione. That's Gabriel. What's your name?''

The frown got worse and Gabriel remembered the calculations Hermione had run before they'd left. As far as they knew, this was the most vulnerable the man would be for quite some time. And vulnerable meant approachable...according to Hermione anyway. Gabriel kept his wings arched, even if the man couldn't see them.

''I don't...I don't remember.'' He stared at Hermione and it seriously creeped Gabriel out how whack-jobs just seemed to imprint on her. ''There was a man?'' He asked nervously.

She nodded. All hail Hermione, Queen of the PTSD ducklings.

''Yes, there was. Are you cold?'' She added as the man began to shiver.

He gave a shallow nod.

Urgh, did that make him a duck? He was an Archangel! He couldn't be a duck!

''That's okay.'' Hermione shifted forward onto her knees very slowly. ''Would you like me to help with that?''

The man paused. Gabriel wondered if giving him an option was wrong. But Hermione had insisted that he had to make the choice himself.

There was the scrape of metal on concrete and then the man moved closer to Hermione, eyeing both of them warily. Gabriel tensed, ready to move in case he made move that was threatening. It only took seconds to kill a human and Gabriel refused to give this guy even one.

Eventually, after enough tense shuffling that had everyone on edge (except Hermione, who was doing her serene thing), the man got close enough for Hermione to touch him.

''Now,'' She said gently. ''This shouldn't hurt, but it will help, okay?''

The man blinked at her.

''I won't touch you unless you say it's all right.''

For a second the man's terrified gaze flickered between Gabriel and Hermione and Gabriel felt his resolve shrink. He'd read the damn file. He knew what they'd done to this guy. And now...with his programming in shreds...There wasn't much left but base instinct.

''Oh...Okay.'' The man breathed and Hermione smiled, lifting her right hand to rest on the man's metal arm. Gabriel shifted his vision and watched as her magic extended along her arm and into the rune she was tracing against the steel plates. The man stiffened as it glowed and sunk into the metal. Hermione didn't often do magic without her wand, she said it took to much out of her to force it without a conduit. But pulling out something that could possibly be a weapon on this guy would be a mistake.

''Better?'' She asked and very slowly the man nodded. Hermione hummed and rummaged in the bag she had hanging by her side. The man flinched immediately, worried she was reaching for a weapon, but Hermione ignored him. She pulled a neatly folded blanket from the bag and set it on the floor between them. It was dark blue and made from the softest wool she could find. It was also, and Gabriel didn't really get how this worked, waterproof and enthused with warming and cleaning charms.

A flesh hand darted out to touch it before being jerked back as though its owner had no idea how it had happened. Gabriel couldn't blame him. Hermione's knitted goods were seriously valuable. Gabriel tugged his woolly hat slightly further down his head. It was bright gold and sparkly and Gabriel guarded it zealously.

''It's yours.'' Hermione murmured and the man stared at her. ''You can touch it.''

Metal blurred as the man snatched out to grab it, clutching the blanket to his chest.

''Now...'' Hermione breathed. ''Why don't you tell me about the man on the bridge?''

''Mission Report?'' He asked with wide eyes.

Hermione smiled kindly.

''If you like.''

* * *

The blue door burst open with a bang and Ianto rushed into the warehouse like the dogs of Hell were after him. They probably weren't, Gabriel was pretty sure his universe didn't have Hell hounds. Ianto looked terrible. He was in jeans and a blood stained t-shirt, his face was pale and wan and his hair, usually immaculate, was greasy and unkempt.

Gabriel dropped from his rafter to land directly in front of him and the human grabbed his shoulders tightly, apparently out of his mind enough that the sight of Gabriel falling thirty feet didn't bother him.

''Where's Hermione?'' He demanded.

''Whoa, big guy.'' Gabriel soothed. ''Breathe. Mimi!'' He yelled, over his shoulder.

Gabriel about had the distraught human breathing properly by the time Hermione designed to wander over to them and then Ianto got himself completely worked up again.

''Please.'' He begged, staring at her with watery eyes. ''Please, it's Lisa. You've got to help me.''

Hermione, looking resigned, simply nodded and got her coat.

Gabriel hated that she didn't look surprised.

* * *

Ianto led them back to his flat, a tiny pokey affair that was probably all an archivist could afford on a London salary. It was a mess, with clothes and furniture strew about the place like flotsam from a storm and Gabriel paused inside the doorway smelling the unmistakable scent of iron and life.

''She's through here.'' The man murmured and led them towards the bedroom.

What was left of a woman was attached to a variety of machines, each filling the room with their own quiet beeps.

''The conversion,'' Ianto whispered. ''It was never finished. She's still there. She's still Lisa.''

Lisa didn't stir, deeply unconscious.

''Please, if there's anything you can do...''

Hermione pursed her lips and nodded.

''I'll do my best.'' She said. ''But I make no promises, Ianto. This is...'' She faltered to a stop looking slightly haunted.

Ianto clenched his jaw.

''That's all I can ask.'' He admitted, looking heartbroken.

''Can you get me some tea?'' Hermione added, opening the bag she'd brought with her.

Ianto nodded stiffly and vanished, leaving with one lingering look at his girlfriend.

Gabriel waited until he was out of earshot before he stepped up to Hermione.

''We're not here to save her, are we?''

Hermione pulled a sterilised syringe from her bag and unwrapped it.

''No, we're not. I don't have to do this, I mean I could let her live for another year or so but...I don't want to put him through that.'' She sighed. ''I don't want to put  _her_  through that.'' She pushed the needle into a vial of clear liquid and started to fill the syringe.

''What is that?'' Gabriel asked.

''A slow death full of dreams.'' Hermione murmured sadly. ''It'll allow her to slip away in her sleep in about a week or so. Painless. Ianto will be able to say goodbye.''

He stared at her, horrified.

''Have you always planned to do this?''

She flicked the full syringe and ignored him, pursing her lips.

''I'm sorry.'' She murmured, leaning forward, but Gabriel stopped her.

''No.'' He complained, taking the syringe. ''This isn't something I want on your soul.''

''Gabriel...'' Hermione complained softly.

''No.'' He stated and nudged her out the way. At Hermione's direction, he injected the poison into what was left of the woman's thigh and used his grace to ensure there was no puncture mark.

''I'm sorry.'' Hermione said again, touching Lisa's forehead. ''You didn't deserve this.''

Ianto bustled back into the room holding a steaming mug as Gabriel banished any evidence of their intervention.

''Thank you, dear.'' Hermione murmured. She passed the tea to Gabriel and hugged the young man tightly. ''Oh, Ianto.''

Ianto Jones broke down onto her shoulder, loud heart-breaking sobs racking his slim frame. Hermione held him for a long time until he managed to regain his composure.

''I've done what I can.'' Hermione murmured. ''But there are limits to my power.'' She flicked her wand and a green glowing orb appeared next to the head of the bed. ''That's a diagnostic tool. If it's green her conditions stable. If it starts to turn purple her condition is deteriorating. If it fades...then I'm sorry.''

Ianto stared at the orb and nodded.

''Take care of yourself, kid.'' Gabriel murmured, touching his shoulder.

''Thank you.'' He breathed. ''For coming.'' He smiled at them weakly. ''I really appreciate it.''

Hermione went white.

* * *

Gabriel and Hermione were drinking, Hermione having broken out a bottle of whiskey she'd had hidden somewhere.

''He thanked us.'' Gabriel spat. He felt like...He didn't know what he felt like, but he didn't like it. Guilt was a new emotion for him and it filled him like acid, biting at his insides.

''I hate this job,'' Hermione muttered, staring at the table with haunted and miserable eyes.

''He fucking thanked us.''

* * *

They went back and helped Ianto dispose of the body, cremating his girlfriend's remains on a great pyre in the countryside. Gabriel and Hermione helped it to burn hot enough to burn through cybernetics and metal and then they helped Ianto back to his flat.

Hermione cleaned while Gabriel returned the medical equipment to the various hospitals Ianto had stolen it from and then they all settled around the table, staring into mugs of tea.

''You need to get away from here.'' Hermione insisted gently. ''Send her things to her parents and then you need to leave. This isn't good for you.''

Ianto stared at her with wet eyes.

''Where?'' He managed. ''My only reference got blown up, I'm just qualified to be a tea boy.''

''That's not true.'' She rebuked and paused. ''You could always go back to Cardiff.'' She suggested. ''There's a branch of Torchwood there.''

Ianto frowned at her.

''But that's Captain Harkness' team. It's invitation only.''

She smiled.

''Then I suggest you find yourself an invitation.''

* * *

Gabriel always forgot that they were outside linear time. The Warehouse existed in its own space but the universes it was connected to didn't run parallel to one another. What was a week in one universe was a month or a day in another. It could seriously mess with your head and Gabriel liked his head so he didn't think about it. But it explained why when Gabriel stepped from 985661 where he'd been dealing with ensuring the right woman joined a monster fighting army so she could meet the right man and they could save the world with a giant robot to find Hermione standing directly in front of him with news they'd been waiting months for.

''It's tomorrow.'' She announced.

Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows at her.

''The day the sun comes out?'' He asked, hopefully.

''Castiel is coming back tomorrow.'' Hermione insisted, scowling at him. She tugged at her hair. ''I don't know why or how, but it's tomorrow. You need to go now.''

''Like  _now_ , now?''

''Yes!'' Hermione snapped. ''Something isn't going right and I'm not sure what it is, so I need you to go and find out. All right?''

Gabriel frowned at her.

''Are you all right?''

She shuddered and wrapped her arms around her middle.

''I'm fine. Just tired.'' Gabriel eyed the bags under her eyes. ''You need to...''

''Cas' can wait.'' Gabriel insisted, herding her towards the stairs. ''I need to make sure you eat something first.''

''This is important, Gabriel!'' Hermione snapped.

''So's this, sweetheart.'' He murmured, taking her hand and leading the way up to the flat. ''C'mon, I'll make pasta.''

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, This is the most recent chapter. Let us know what you thought?


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